The Ohio State University College of Nursing announced today that the college has teamed up with Wellness & Prevention, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, to offer the Nurse Athlete/Health Athlete program, the first under the college’s Health Athlete initiative to promote healthy practices in nurses and healthcare professionals.
The Health Athlete initiative is designed for professionals from all healthcare disciplines using proven techniques that refocus and re-energize a participant’s personal and professional life. The Nurse Athlete/Health Athlete Program is derived from the Corporate Athlete® program offered by the Human Performance Institute Division of Wellness & Prevention, Inc., a health and performance solutions provider focused on improving population health. The program—rooted in 30 years of proprietary research related to the training of top-performing athletes and Fortune 500 executives at the Human Performance Institute—focuses on human energy management and one’s goals to affect sustainable behavior change.
“This program is a win-win for nurses, physicians, managers, and the entire healthcare team and system, both in terms of improving the quality of health professionals’ personal and professional lives and patient outcomes,” said Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, RN, FAAN, chief wellness officer, associate vice president for health promotion, and dean of The Ohio State University College of Nursing. “In 2011, we started talking with Wellness & Prevention, Inc. about the Corporate Athlete® program and knew it had terrific potential for healthcare professionals.”
The Nurse Athlete/Health Athlete course, led by David Hrabe, PhD, RN, associate professor of clinical nursing and executive director of academic innovations and partnerships, and Melnyk, is specially designed for nurses, healthcare professionals, physicians, students and faculty in health profession programs, healthcare organizations and health-related governmental agencies within the United States.
Wellness & Prevention, Inc. is focused on driving improved health, productivity and performance by offering personalized, integrated and comprehensive total health solutions.
“We believe that the health of employees is inextricably linked to the health and performance of an organization, so we offer solutions that empower people to be and perform at their best,” says Sanjay Gupta, president, Wellness & Prevention, Inc. “Our work with The Ohio State University College of Nursing extends our ability to nurture and sustain a strong culture of health with the nursing and health professional communities.”
The Nurse Athlete/Health Athlete program builds on the philosophy of the Corporate Athlete® program that an individual’s body and mind are both business relevant. For employees to become engaged at work, they must align their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual selves for peak performance.
The Nurse Athlete/Health Athlete workshop focuses on energy management, nutritional guidelines and fitness coaching, with the goal of building personalized performance action plans for individuals to achieve peak performance at work and at home.
In addition, health professionals who go through the Nurse Athlete program have the opportunity to be leaders by working with private sector organizations, policy makers and consumers for better health. Nurse/Health Athletes can help others learn how frequent exercise, healthy meals and brief respites during the day can increase productivity and happiness.
Nurse Athlete will serve as a prototype for Health Athlete programming to other health professionals, including physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, as well as faculty, staff and students in academic settings.
For more information, please contact David Hrabe, executive director, at 614-398-6607 or healthathlete@osu.edu or visit healthathlete.org.
About The Ohio State University College of Nursing
The Ohio State University College of Nursing is the world’s preeminent college known for accomplishing what is considered impossible through its transformational leadership and innovation in nursing and health, evidence-based practice and unsurpassed wellness. Ranked in the top 6% of graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report, we exist to revolutionize healthcare and promote the highest levels of wellness in diverse individuals and communities throughout the nation and globe through innovative and transformational education, research and evidence-based clinical practice. Please visit us at nursing.osu.edu.
