If you’ve been watching the Olympics at all, you may not realize that a team of top notch physicians, nurses and sports medicine professionals are busy working behind the scenes. The Olympic medical team has been tending to skiers, skaters and all athletes who are tumbling, crashing and slamming onto ice, snow or each other. These medical professionals are on site to help manage the team’s health, provide preventative care and tend to injuries. If not for the group of sports medicine professionals, which included a variety of nurses, Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. team may not have been able to recover from her shin injury and gone on to win the gold medal.
During the 2010 Winter Olympics, one ambitious nurse became the first female Australian to compete in the long track. Sophie Muir was a champion inline skater who did not take up speed skating until 2008 when she saw the sport during a backpacking trip to the Netherlands. Fifteen months ago, Muir could barely take a corner on an ice rink, so to finish in the top 30 was a huge accomplishment for this Australian nurse!
For all sports fanatics, there are numerous health careers in sports medicine to choose from. Different careers in sports medicine include schools, pro teams or other competitive athletics. Sports medicine can be traced back to primitive man. The use of exercise as a prerequisite for conditioning and the proper treatment of injuries were first documented in early Greek civilization with the establishment of the Olympics. Today, over 3 million students participate in varsity sports with almost 800,000 injuries recorded. These numbers don’t even account for sports activities outside of school. Another area of potential injury is during physical education classes.
For all sports fanatics, there are numerous health careers in sports medicine to choose from. Different careers in sports medicine include schools, pro teams or other competitive athletics. Sports medicine can be traced back to primitive man. The use of exercise as a prerequisite for conditioning and the proper treatment of injuries were first documented in early Greek civilization with the establishment of the Olympics. Today, over 3 million students participate in varsity sports with almost 800,000 injuries recorded. These numbers don’t even account for sports activities outside of school. Another area of potential injury is during physical education classes.
As part of a basic nursing education, nurses do not have an extensive knowledge of injury assessment and prevention. Nurses who are interested in working in the school systems need to attend classes that would teach them skills needed to assess sports related injuries.