This novel approach bridges the gap between athletics and academics.

In 2021, over 500,000 U.S. college students participated in teams sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); however, little research exists on the experiences of undergraduate nursing students athletes (NSAs), and no published data document their number.

All student athletes must manage competing priorities—academics, athletics, and various other responsibilities. Navigating the dual role of student and athlete requires excellent time management and communication skills. Combining this commitment with the rigor of an undergraduate nursing program curriculum can leave NSAs vulnerable to distress and risk of failure in athletics, academics, or both.

For example, scheduling conflicts between clinical experiences and athletic responsibilities can present major sources of stress for NSAs, faculty, and coaches. These scheduling issues can prove challenging to coordinate, and providing make-up experiences may not be possible. Experiential clinical learning requires the student’s presence in the clinical setting with a faculty member who evaluates them in real time. Excessive absences make it difficult to evaluate student achievement of learning outcomes.

A 2017 study by Forst documents the support NSAs need from various institutional entities. Traditionally, these entities may include only coaches and faculty members, which places the NSA between two silos. A more novel approach involves an academic advisor who bridges that gap and guides the NSA as a whole person rather than providing only academic counseling.

A dedicated approach

A state university in the mid-Atlantic region experienced an increase in the number of student athletes in its bachelor of science in nursing program. These students participate in cheerleading, cross-country track, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field. As members of teams within Division II of the NCAA, these student athletes travel regionally and nationally to compete and represent the university. Travel time to and from athletic events also can interfere with classes and clinical experiences.

Navigating scheduling conflicts created additional tasks for nursing faculty and coaches and without consistency in application of the university’s excused absence or nursing department attendance policies. These inconsistencies led to confusion among student athletes, faculty, and coaches. To this barrier to success, nursing faculty created the role of a dedicated academic advisor to support all student athletes in the undergraduate nursing program. This new role resulted in a reorganization of student advising assignments with all student athletes sharing a dedicated advisor. The dedicated advisor examines any issues related to student athletes from a macro-perspective, builds relationships with coaches and athletic administrators, and serves as a resource for other faculty members.

Using the university’s enrollment data software, the dedicated advisor compiled a list of all NSAs, what sports they played, and their year in the nursing program. This led to a surprising discovery: Almost 15% of the university’s undergraduate nursing students participate in athletics. The advisor then informally surveyed the NSAs to gather information about typical practice schedules, competition schedules, and class schedules. In an open-response option, the NSAs shared concerns about their experiences as student athletes.

The advisor used this information to work with students, faculty, and coaches to make informed decisions about clinical and class scheduling. Students had an opportunity to select courses that provided a better fit for their schedules during their competitive season. Such options led to fewer conflicts with class and clinical experiences, fewer absences from clinical, and less makeup work.

For example, senior-level students complete four clinical rotations—public health, mental health, advanced medical–surgical, and leadership. The mental health, advanced medical–surgical, and leadership rotations involve 12-hour shifts on Tuesdays or Thursdays each week, and the public health rotation involves two 6-hour shifts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. NSAs who play soccer typically have games on Thursdays and Saturdays. Historically, soccer players missed a significant number of clinical hours when they were in the public health rotation during the soccer season. Proactive planning and advising led to these NSAs completing the public health rotation during the off season.

Positive impact

Anecdotal student and faculty comments on the inclusion of a dedicated advisor for NSAs have been overwhelmingly positive. One student responded, “The role of having a dedicated academic advisor that understands the role of athletics has impacted my life as a student athlete in many ways. In order to help schedule classes, an academic advisor must know what class would be best with being in season or being off season. Helping share advice about each class to help the student athlete decide which class to take benefited me greatly. Also being a student athlete takes a great amount of time. So, for my academic advisor to meet with me whenever I needed or to answer emails quickly that deal with sports, classes, or something in the future is vital to my success. Having knowledge about previous students taking this class in season or out of season and being flexible with time greatly helped me be a successful student athlete.”

Faculty responded favorably as well. The advisor serves as a resource to faculty for navigating university policies related to excused absences, clinical makeup time, and schedule conflict resolution. One faculty member stated, “Having a dedicated academic advisor allows for consistency for student athletes as well as anticipation of their varied needs.”

Facilitate success

NSAs manage a complex set of responsibilities throughout rigorous, undergraduate nursing education. Faculty support facilitates success in many facets of their experience. A dedicated academic advisor for NSAs can improve the experience for students and faculty. More research on this topic will help us further understand NSA experiences.

John T. Taylor is an associate professor of nursing and pre-licensure BSN program director at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

American Nurse Journal. 2023; 18(11). Doi: 10.51256/ANJ1123100

References

Forst KA. Motivational factors of student nurse athletes attributing to academic success. Nurse Educ. 2017;42(6):324-7. doi:10.1097/NNE.0000000000000386

Krautscheid L, Williams S, Kahn B. Enhancing access for student nurse athletes: Office hours on the road. Nurs Educ Perspec. 2020;41(6):384-5. doi:10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000502

McDowell BM. When the nursing student also wears cleats: Successful nursing student athletes. Nurs Educ Perspect. 2017;38(4):212-3. doi:10.1097/01.nep.0000000000000152

National Collegiate Athletic Association. NCAA sports sponsorship and participation rates database. December 2022. ncaa.org/sports/2018/10/10/ncaa-sports-sponsorship-and-participation-rates-database.aspx

Strikwerda CJ. Faculty members are the key to solving the retention challenge. Inside Higher Ed. September 3, 2019. insidehighered.com/views/2019/09/04/faculty-must-play-bigger-role-student-retention-and-success-opinion

Key words: nursing students, student athletes, collegiate athletes