Comments on: Nursing, Not Football, Now Goal for Two Athletes /nursing-not-football-now-goal-for-two-athletes/ Future of Nursing Thu, 29 Sep 2016 03:42:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0.10 By: KevinD /nursing-not-football-now-goal-for-two-athletes/#comment-90 Thu, 29 Sep 2016 03:42:00 +0000 /?p=9805#comment-90 I have great respect for the two division one athletes, Patrick Hill and Brandon Rice, who were featured in this article for making the decision on becoming a nurse. The common stereotype that I’ve heard in college was that football players pick “easy majors”, but these two football stars definitely broke those stereotypes. It is rare that you see student athletes, especially football players, get degrees in the healthcare field, such as nursing. Many of them pick sociology, English, communication, and business, just to name a few. Another major stereotype that they broke is being a male nurse or a “murse”. Since the majority of all nurses are women, it is infrequent that men choose a path to become a nurse. I am a male nursing student and I am proud to be contributing to the increase in male nurses across the country and around the world. Based on the article, there was an increase in the percentage of male nurses from 2.7 percent in 1970 to 9.6 percent in 2013. Even though that seems like a small amount, it shows progress and displays how more men are interesting in the nursing field, which is great for nursing overall.

Being on a football team requires teamwork in order to execute game plans and win the game. One person on the team, no matter how good of a player they are can’t win on their own and do everything. Nursing is also like being on a team where each person has their own roles to help their patients. They work with other nurses and healthcare providers, such as doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. No nurse works on their own, but rather works with other fellow nurses and doctors towards one common goal, which is to help the patient get better. I look at the relationship of doctors and nurses, similar to the way coaches and players interact with each other. The coach tells them their game plan and the players execute it, comparable to when doctors give orders to the nurses. While I was growing up, I also played many sports and was on many teams. I learned many lessons that I can apply when I become a nurse, similar to the lessons that Hill and Rice learned being a division one athlete, such as discipline, teamwork and respect. One of the most important lessons that I absorbed as an athlete growing up was to remain calm during times of pressure, which I can use during pressuring moments as a nurse. I hope more college athletes decide to do nursing as a major and a career in the future. This was a great article and I really enjoyed reading it.

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