With over 240 billion registered players worldwide, soccer is one of the most popular sports on Earth. For soccer teams to play well, they need managers who can lead them to victories. However, managing a soccer team is not easy.
Soccer is a sport where the players need to be focused and have good coordination with each other. There are also many factors that you have to consider when managing a soccer team, such as the weather, time of day, and where you play. Your players’ health and physical fitness are also important, which is why you must hire a sports nurse practitioner.
What’s a Sports Nurse Practitioner?
A sports nurse practitioner is a registered nurse who has advanced training in sports medicine and works with athletes to help them recover from injuries. The sports nurse practitioner can also help prevent injuries by providing pre-participation physicals and injury screenings.
Nurse practitioners have advanced education, training, and clinical experience in a specialty area. This allows them to diagnose and treat patients as well as order diagnostic tests or procedures for their patients. They work with a wide variety of patients and conditions, including chronic diseases such as diabetes or asthma.
Sports nurse practitioners treat injuries that are common among athletes, such as sprains, strains, fractures, and contusions. They may also treat heat exhaustion or heat stroke if it occurs during exercise. Sports nurse practitioners also provide preventive care for athletes, including pre-participation physicals (PPE) and injury screening examinations (ISEs).
What Qualifications Does a Sports Nurse Practitioner Have?
Sports nurse practitioners may work in hospitals or clinics, or they may be employed by professional teams. In either case, they will have completed a bachelor’s degree in nursing and then gone on to receive their master’s degree in sports medicine from an accredited program. They can also look into a DNP program online, which will further boost their resume. The DNP program will add to their credentials and make them viable candidates for jobs with higher pay.
After this degree, they will have passed an exam administered by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) and gained certification as a Registered Athletic Trainer (RAT). The NATA also offers certification for Sports Medicine Nurse Practitioners (SMNP).
Sports nurse practitioners must renew their certification every three years by completing continuing education courses on topics such as nutrition and fitness.
Why Hire a Sports Nurse Practitioner for Your Soccer Team?
A sports nurse practitioner is a valuable member of any team, but they’re especially important to soccer teams. Here’s why.
Treat Injuries
This is because soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, and it’s played by millions of people at all levels. Soccer players are often required to make fast decisions on the field, which can lead to injuries if their bodies are not prepared for them.
A sports nurse practitioner can help prevent these injuries by working with athletic trainers and physical therapists before games or practices, helping them understand how to best prevent injuries from happening in the first place. They also provide treatment for injuries that do happen during practice or during games, ensuring that players have access to care whether they’re on or off the field. Ankle sprain, knee sprain, calf strains, clavicle fracture, foot fracture, hamstring strain, and ACL are the most common injuries soccer players have to deal with.
Sports NPs must attend to these injuries immediately and at least provide temporary relief or treatment. It takes six to nine months to recover from injuries like ACL, that too, with proper initial care, preferably right after the on-field injury. Any delays in this initial treatment can further delay the overall recovery.
Oversee Recovery and Rehabilitation
Nurses are a critical part of the health care team for athletes and patients. Nurses play a vital role in the recovery process, which includes rehabilitation and ensuring that players can stay healthy and fit before match days.
A sports NP can also act as the liaison between the manager and the medical facility where an injured player is receiving treatment. It is up to the NP to keep the manager updated about the player’s health, recovery, and overall fitness. Based on these reports, the team manager can estimate how long they have to play without that injured player.
Provide Recommendations
Sports NPs can also provide recommendations regarding fitness and overall health. This is especially common in small professional soccer teams that can’t hire additional nutritionists or fitness nurses, mostly due to budget issues. In such cases, it falls on the NP to oversee these things and work accordingly with the manager.
As you can tell, a sports NP is crucial to any soccer team. So, hiring at least one of these specialist NPS is a must if you’re managing a professional soccer team.