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The most exciting job is the dugout nurse, according to Meadows-Pitt. During an emergency, the team physician and trainers are usually first on the field. If necessary, the dugout nurse brings full life-support equipment.

The nurse treats the more serious injuries, such as respiratory and cardiac arrest, while a physician tends to the more common sports injuries like pulled muscles.

Meadows-Pitt describes the dugout position as being “the prime spot to watch the game” because you’re near the players. However, Padres nurse Linda Rosenberg, RN, manager of the prehospital department at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, says she prefers the charge nurse role because it allows her to roam the stadium, and she enjoys triaging and coordinating medical personnel.

The nurses have been able to use their positions to educate the community, too. White and Allen have counseled A’s fans about their blood pressure, diabetes, eating habits, and medications, and have even made referrals for drug and alcohol problems.

Padres fans who do not have insurance have asked the nurses for medical advice. “You do a lot of education, and I like doing that,” Rosenberg said. “It’s a positive for nursing, and it’s a really fun way to bring nursing into the public.”

Meadows-Pitt joked, “It’s probably the only place where you can get free medical care.”

Three nurses work for the A’s and 17 work for the Padres. The Padres nurses typically work two to eight games a month and are paid per game during the 88 home games during spring training and the regular season.

Unlike other teams, where nurses work under physicians who are contracted with the organization, the A’s and Padres nurses are hired directly by their respective organizations. White, who has been a nurse since 1964, says the increased independence is what nurses want at that point in their careers.

Word of mouth

Many nurses hear about ballpark nursing positions through word of mouth. Janie Taylor, RN, BSN, MSMA, nurse coordinator/managing EMS for the Padres, heard about her job from a coworker, while the A’s and Padres hired Allen and Meadows-Pitt, respectively, after they filled in for friends.

Just about every ballpark nurse has emergency department experience. Taylor is director of emergency trauma and ambulatory services at Sharp Memorial and Meadows-Pitt is base hospital nurse coordinator for the ED at Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, Calif.

The Padres organization requires that its nurses be mobile intensive care nurse-certified by San Diego County.

White works in the intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital Oakland, while Allen also has ED and ICU experience. Both nurses are certified in basic life support and pediatric advanced life support.

Meadows-Pitt says she doesn’t believe anyone is a ballpark nurse for the money. As an A’s nurse, Allen makes less than half of what she earns as a psychiatric administrative nurse for Alameda County Medical Center. However, the pay is “definitely competitive,” she said, especially since nurses’ salaries have increased in recent years.

But ballpark nursing brings more than monetary rewards. Padres nurses can request 40 free Padres tickets a season, while A’s nurses can request two free tickets for each game.

Allen also has met A’s players and received several autographed baseballs.

But perhaps the biggest reward is the appreciation from the fans, who often come back and thank the nurses for their treatment. White and Allen have developed personal relationships with several A’s fans. Allen even has a “fan club” of about 100 who know her personally.

One fan Allen knows is a man who sits up in one of the higher sections of the Coliseum and recently had a biopsy. He never thought he’d be able to see a game in person again, but he’s been back to the ballpark several times. For him, Allen says, baseball was better medicine than taking a pill any day.

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