Purpose: The purpose of this survey was to identify factors that may be influencing the appreciation of exercise physiology as a discipline as demonstrated by hiring practices in regional clinical settings.
Methods: A telephone survey was administered to 33 cardiac rehabilitation programs in 5 states in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States (Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia).
Results: The distribution of nurses and exercise physiologists (EPs) employed by the 33 facilities varied by state, but overall there were 86 nurses and 55 EPs working among the surveyed facilities. Of the 33 surveyed facilities, 12 (36%) reported a preference for hiring nurses over EPs; only 4 (12%) reported a preference for hiring EPs over nurses. The remaining facilities (n = 17; 52%) reported no preference (n = 12; 36%) or that the decision depends on a variety of factors (n = 5; 15%). Several common themes were identified from respondents. These included that, compared to nurses, EPs have greater expertise in exercise prescription and better understanding of safe exercise progression for patients. However, nurses were believed to possess greater assessment and clinical skill with an emphasis on emergency response preparedness and greater general patient education skills.
Conclusion: Academic programs that prepare students for careers as EPs employed in clinical settings may benefit from additional coursework and internship site selection that focus on clinical assessment skills, emergency preparedness, and patient education to reinforce their work in an exercise science curriculum.
