It's a Quality-of-Life Issue

Mensch, James M.; Mensch, Jim; Wham, George

doi:10.1123/att.10.1.34

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Also highlighting this need for further investigation has been the increase in articles within the athletic training literature. Since 2005, Athletic Therapy Today has published 4 separate articles 2,[18][19][20] and devoted an entire section to elements related to work and family balance and quality of life for ATs. [19][20][21] Several of the articles focused on suggested practices to help promote a balanced lifestyle for an AT and, although many of the recommendations are practical, they may not completely depict the situation (eg, clinical settings).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since 2005, Athletic Therapy Today has published 4 separate articles 2,[18][19][20] and devoted an entire section to elements related to work and family balance and quality of life for ATs. [19][20][21] Several of the articles focused on suggested practices to help promote a balanced lifestyle for an AT and, although many of the recommendations are practical, they may not completely depict the situation (eg, clinical settings). Currently, a majority of the research examining successful policies focused primarily on the traditional employment sector, with little attention to nontraditional employment settings in which the work day is not 9 AM to 5 PM.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many of the anecdotal suggestions within the athletic training literature were comparable with our findings. [18][19][20] On an individual level within the workplace, the need to establish boundaries with coaches and athletes was necessary for many of the ATs to maintain work-life balance. The reality is an AT employed at the interscholastic level will never enjoy a typical workday schedule; however, once the workday is complete, the focus should be on personal interests or domestic care obligations and not additional work responsibilities, which can often wait until the next day.…”

Section: Balancing Work and Family: Professional Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such strategies as proper nutrition, time management, exercise, saying no, setting priorities, teamwork, support networks, and establishing sport-coverage policies have been suggested to help ATs meet the challenges of balancing work, family, and personal interests. [18][19][20][21][22] Additionally, the theory of integration, 22 by which an individual prioritizes both work and personal time, has become an increasingly popular technique to promote a balanced lifestyle. 18,22 For example, some major-league baseball teams have opted to provide players with benefits such as on-site child care and family lounges to help players create more time for family and personal obligations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing Strategies to Manage Work and Life Balance of Athletic Trainers Working in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Setting

Mazerolle

Pitney

Casa

et al. 2011

Journal of Athletic Training

210

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Context: Certified athletic trainers (ATs) working at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I level experience challenges balancing their professional and personal lives. However, an understanding of the strategies ATs use to promote a balance between their professional and personal lives is lacking.Objective: To identify the strategies ATs employed in the Division I setting use to establish a balance between their professional and personal lives.Design: Qualitative investigation using inductive content analysis.Setting: Athletic trainers employed at Division I schools from 5 National Athletic Trainers' Association districts.Patients or Other Participants: A total of 28 (15 women, 13 men) ATs aged 35 6 9 years volunteered for the study.Data Collection and Analysis: Asynchronous electronic interviews with follow-up phone interviews. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Peer review, member checking, and datasource triangulation were conducted to establish trustworthiness.Results: Three higher-order themes emerged from the analysis. The initial theme, antecedents of work-family conflict, focused on the demands of the profession, flexibility of work schedules, and staffing patterns as contributing to work-life conflict for this group of ATs. The other 2 emergent higher-order themes, professional factors and personal factors, describe the components of a balanced lifestyle. The second-order theme of constructing the professional factors included both organizational policies and individual strategies, whereas the secondorder theme of personal factors was separation of work and life and a supportive personal network.Conclusions: Long work hours, lack of control over work schedules, and unbalanced athlete-to-AT ratios can facilitate conflicts. However, as demonstrated by our results, several organizational and personal strategies can be helpful in creating a balanced lifestyle.Key Words: work-family conflict, organizational support, professional satisfaction Key Points N Although professional demands, inflexible work schedules, and inadequate staffing patterns can cause conflicts, work-life balance is achievable for athletic trainers at the Division I level.N To promote work-life balance, administrators should encourage teamwork, and athletic trainers can set boundaries and priorities.N A strong support system, both at work and at home, is the critical link that allows athletic trainers to balance their professional and personal lives.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Balancing Work and Family: Professional Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Assessing Strategies to Manage Work and Life Balance of Athletic Trainers Working in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Setting

Mazerolle

Pitney

Casa

et al. 2011

Journal of Athletic Training

210

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“…This list, as outlined in the literature, 6,[20][21][22][23] should include both work and nonwork items. Items on the list may include updating patient records, meeting an athlete for a physician's appointment, and covering practice.…”

Section: Work-life Balance Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Achieving Work-Life Balance in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Setting, Part II: Perspectives From Head Athletic Trainers

Goodman

Mazerolle

Pitney

2015

Journal of Athletic Training

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Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Web-based management system. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 18 head ATs (13 men, 5 women; age ¼ 44 6 8 years, athletic training experience ¼ 22 6 7 years) volunteered.Data Collection and Analysis: Participants journaled their thoughts and experiences in response to a series of questions. To establish data credibility, we included multiple-analyst triangulation, stakeholder checks, and peer review. We used a general inductive approach to analyze the data.Results: Two higher-order themes emerged from our analysis of the data: organizational challenges and work-life balance strategies. The organizational challenges theme contained 2 lower-order themes: lack of autonomy and role demands. The work-life balance strategies theme contained 3 lower-order themes: prioritization of commitments, strategic boundary setting, and work-family integration.Conclusions: Head ATs are susceptible to experiencing work-life imbalance just as ATs in nonsupervisory roles are. Although not avoidable, the causes are manageable. Head ATs are encouraged to prioritize their personal time, make efforts to spend time away from their demanding positions, and reduce the number of additional responsibilities that can impede time available to spend away from work.Key Words: quality of life, supervisory role, retention Key PointsWork-life imbalance is inevitable, particularly in the collegiate setting, but is manageable. As do athletic trainers in nonsupervisory roles, head athletic trainers can experience work-life imbalance due to role overload and a lack of autonomy over work schedules. Head athletic trainers are encouraged to prioritize their personal time, try to spend time away from work, and reduce additional responsibilities that prevent spending time away from work. Expectations of the athletes and coaches for medical care during out-of-season training can limit the athletic trainer's time away, particularly because many are responsible for more than 1 team.

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