STUDENT CLOSE-UP

Football Captain Tackles
Health Care Field

By Bill McLain

Pads and helmets are mandatory protection on the football field; but off the field, scrubs and latex gloves help nursing student Beau Viehmann when his patient’s health takes a hit.

Viehmann, a Sinclair School of Nursing senior at the University of Missouri-Columbia, currently is a captain on the Tigers’ football team. As a running back and an integral part of the special teams unit, he protects those carrying the ball.

“I’m just an average person with specific responsibilities,” Viehmann said. “It’s my hope as a person that I live up to those responsibilities with compassion and integrity.”

Throughout his years at MU and his involvement with the football team, he has taken on a leadership role both on and off the field.

“Beau is one of the hardest working players we’ve had,” said Chad Moller, Mizzou Athletics media relations director. “He’s always positive, energetic and leads by example. That’s what makes him stand out.”

His football teammates aren't the only beneficiaries of his leadership and teamwork skills. The health care field is also benefiting. One of Viehmann’s externships was with a joint research project involving Family and Community Medicine and the Sinclair School of Nursing.

“Beau gave us 150 percent,” said Linda Bullock, associate professor for the school. “He put in the extra effort not to do just what was expected, but to really understand what our research is trying to accomplish. Once he had that understanding, he contributed to several research projects by developing ideas on how to make the projects stronger.”

Bullock believes the work ethic she and other researchers observed carries over to the football field and is the reason he was chosen to be captain.

“Captains are chosen by their teammates, and it is one of the highest honors someone can receive,” Moller said. “When you first join an organization, it’s difficult to insert yourself into a leadership role. However, it didn’t take long for Beau to catch the attention of the coaches and his teammates.”

Being named one of the four team captains took Viehmann by surprise, but he is flattered by the opportunity. “As captain, my goal is for everyone to get the most out of their [football] experience,” Viehmann said.

Even though he is in a team leadership role, he knows he is still developing his strengths and recognizing his weaknesses. This leadership experience has taught him how to communicate with a wide variety of people.

“I believe my experience on the football team and with my teammates has helped me learn that you can’t approach everyone in the same way,” Viehmann said. “There’s an appropriate time and place for everything to be said and a right way to say it.”

Teamwork is essential in both of Viehmann’s endeavors. To win a football game or to see a patient reach their health care goals requires him to work with others in reaching a common goal. He believes a good team is a group of people who can work together on all levels regardless of who is in command or who is carrying out the duties.

These leadership experiences flow both ways – from the field to the health care profession and vise versa. One lesson he’s taken from his nursing experience back to the football field is that of advocate.

Slowing down and listening to patients is sometimes what helps them the most. The second day Viehmann worked with his preceptor, a nursing mentor, he sat holding the hand of a tearful patient listening to her talk. “Beau’s compassion for this patient was better than any medication I could have administered,” said Arlinda Kinkead, University Hospital staff nurse.

This same concept is essential on the football field.

“I’ve learned when my teammates have concerns or things they want to talk about that I need to slow down and listen to them – that’s what helps them most,” he said.

Viehmann came to MU to study human environmental sciences, however, the more he was exposed to the hard sciences, such as anatomy and physiology, the more he realized a nursing career would be a better fit for him.

“In nursing I am able to learn about subjects I love and want to know more about,” Viehmann said. “But this career will also give me the face-to-face patient relationships that I want. I didn’t want to be in a room for a few minutes; I want the constant patient relationship on a day-in, day-out basis.”

The most rewarding part of his education comes from the required hospital experience, he said. By observing nurses and physicians in motion, he sees how health care situations are handled and decisions are made. Then he makes a determination for himself as to whether he would have handled it the same way or done it differently.

With his December graduation nearing, Viehmann is still figuring out his next move. But graduate school looms as a likely possibility. “After graduate school, I want to live my life doing a job I love and start a family,” he said.

Stopping to reflect on his college career and his accomplishments, Viehmann said he wouldn’t change anything because these experiences have made him the person he is today. Trying out for the football team taught him that life is challenging and would probably not go smoothly all the time.

“Trying to be consistent day-in and day-out, doing everything with integrity and working at what I want to accomplish is what I focus on a day-to-day basis,” Viehmann said. “Eventually I’ll either accomplish my goals or I’ll know I did everything possible to accomplish them.”

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Last Update: November 15, 2007