Member Resource Library

The NFL, in collaboration with the NFLPA, through their respective appointed biomechanical experts, coordinated extensive laboratory research to evaluate which helmets best reduce head impact severity.

Journal of Athletic Training Article: The labor market suffered a mass exodus of employees, including healthcare workers, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous research highlights the vulnerability of young professional athletic trainers (YPATs) to attrition. Investigating pandemic-related employment changes and their impact is essential for developing strategies to improve the retention of YPATs.

JAT article that discusses burnout, a state of physical or emotional exhaustion, a concern within athletic training, as between 17% and 40% of athletic trainers (ATs) report high levels of burnout. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked with higher levels of burnout in other health professions.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss risk and prognostic factors for concussion outcomes, review comprehensive approaches to assessment, and describe a new method for conceptualizing treatment for sport-related concussion using clinical experience.

As part of Phase Six of NATA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access (DEIA) Response Plan, each NATA committee, commission and council was tasked with developing three to five actionable items that support one or more of the six NATA DEIA Commitments. In this NATA Now post, which is part of an ongoing series highlighting these efforts, NATA International Committee Chair Matthew Kutz, PhD, ATC, CSCS, outlines IC’s actionable items, what the committee hopes to achieve and how members can get involved.

The NFL Head, Neck and Spine  Committee – a board of independent and NFL-affiliated physicians and scientists, including advisors for the NFL Players Association – developed the NFL Game Day Concussion Diagnosis and Management Protocol in 2011. The Concussion Protocol is reviewed each year to ensure players are receiving care that reflects the most up-to-date medical consensus on the identification, diagnosis and treatment of concussions.

NATA Now article that reviews what to know about AT burnout.

Winter 2021 Sports Medicine Legal Digest article on employment discrimination in the LGBTQ+ community.

Gain a better understanding of the main human motivators in order to help manage the stress related to COVID-19 and beyond.

The athletic trainer plays a vital role in reducing barriers to accessing quality health care for all patients, including transgender individuals. Read about key points ATs should know re: transgender health care, and resources to improve their knowledge, awareness and patient care for the population.

The July 2021 issue of NATA News focuses on the different aspects of athletic training entrepreneurship, which can include how to manage time. An entrepreneur’s schedule can be unpredictable, as can an athletic trainer’s, but seeing how one AT entrepreneur makes it work week by week is a great example of how to make it work. This NATA Now artlcle further hilghights this topic.

May 2021 NATA News article (pdf) that reviews what athletic trainers need to know about the impact of race, ethnicity and culture on mental wellness in the patient population and what they can do to support patients.

This is an article on NATA Now. Several states have initiated and/or passed legislation that affects health care for transgender youth in sport. Given that transgender individuals suffer behavioral health issues at a higher rate than their cisgender peers, it is imperative that ATs are cognizant of how these laws affect the well-being of their transgender patient population.

Being a culturally competent health care provider is not limited to understanding variances in gender identity, race or ethnicity – ATs must also be aware of their patient’s religious values. This type of education and awareness can come from personal experience and/or a proactive effort to increase personal awareness of religious traditions that may vary from the one’s own.

"Microaggressions," November 2020 NATA News article (pdf) that reviews how awareness of and minimizing microaggressions in athletic training clinical practice is a powerful part of being a culturally competent health care provider.