Interest of Major Corporations in Expanded Practice of Occupational Health Nurses

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the interest by executives of major corporations in having occupational health nurses engage in more advanced activities, and to ascertain the available support for advanced educational preparation for nurses. A questionnaire was sent to a systematic sample of 404 of the 808 executives of the Forbes 500 corporations with a 57% return rate. Over 90% of the corporations with health care departments employed registered nurses. Functions nurses currently performed varied by size of the corporation and by type of industry. Activities corporations would like nurses to perform were more advanced, such as conducting research, analyzing trends, and developing special health programs.

Occupational health nurses’ perceptions of their current and future roles

“…The questionnaire contained 22 specific items reflecting occupational health nursing practice role activities in Australia. Twenty of these were based on the activity statements described in a study by Lusk et al. (1988) of the role of the OHN in the USA.…”

Concept analysis of expertise of occupational health nurses applying Rodgers’s evolutionary model

“…Most commonly, the expertise of occupational health nurse referred to the cooperation with employees, employers, health‐care units and workplaces 22,25,30,31 . Less frequently, it was revealed in connection with students, occupational health staff, health and safety committees and government 17,21,28,32,33 . The ‘expertise’ was also connected with the collective expertise of a group or panel composed of skilled occupational professionals who were given a special task or problem to solve 32,34 …”

“… 30,35–37 Through training, occupational health nurses were able to use knowledge and develop their skills in practice 24 . These skills and knowledge deepen and broaden over time as the nurses acquire more working experience 21 . Because of the expanding nature of occupational health nursing, it was essential to develop and maintain expertise by means of continuing education 28,38 .…”

“…Personal characteristics such as activity, responsibility, willingness, sensitivity, empathy and versatility were also desirable qualities 24,29,33,39 . Prompt and correct action, a courteous attitude and client‐oriented behaviour were also expected from expert occupational health nurses 21,39 . Other work‐related antecedents identified were resources, cooperation interaction and support of others; all advanced the use and development of expertise 17,24,29,33 …”

A Scale for Evaluating Employee Satisfaction with Nursing Care

“…Thus, employees should receive better care and have easier access to health services (Lusk, Disch, & Barkauskas, 1988;Merkouris et al, 1999;Mitchell et al, 1999;Rogers, 1993;Verbeek et al, 2001;Yoo, Ashworth, & Boore, 1993).…”