Occupational Health Nursing Program
Program
Community Health Nursing Master's
Sub-Plan
Occupational Health Advanced Practice Nurse (APN)
Program also offers:
- Occupational Health Nursing concentration for Adult Nurse Practitioner students
- Occupational Health Nursing concentration for Family Nurse Practitioner students
Program Focus
Education
Occupational and environmental health nursing education fuses theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the areas of nursing, public health, and business to provide essential training for those who will occupy professional positions in creating and maintaining a safe and healthful work environment.
The occupational health nursing program at the University of Michigan is part of the University of Michigan Center for Occupational Health and Safety Engineering. This education and research center, funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), offers traineeships in the form of tuition support and stipends to eligible students.
Practice
Occupational and environmental health nursing provides for and delivers health and safety programs and services to workers, worker populations, and community groups. This specialty's practice focuses on the promotion and restoration of health, the prevention of illness and injury, and protecting against work-related injuries and environmental hazards.
See the application requirements for this program.
“The Michigan Difference” in Occupational Health Nursing
A History of Pioneering Leadership and Innovation
The University of Michigan School of Nursing has been a leader in occupational health nursing education since the program's inception in 1986 when it was established as a collaboration with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, aiming to create the first graduates occupational health nursing program in the State of Michigan. Its original directive was to prepare scholarly, clinically competent graduates for leadership roles in health protection and health promotion of employees in work settings, an objective that the school is still fulfilling today.
World-Class Faculty Leaders in Education, Research, and Practice
The faculty who teach in our program are experienced instructors, researchers, and clinicians. In addition to their teaching, research, and practice, our faculty are actively involved in leadership roles in national organizations (e.g. Board of the Michigan Association of Occupational Health Nurses, American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Midwest Nursing Research Society) using their expertise to help shape and advance the future of occupational health nursing practice care and education.
Diverse Practice Settings and Exposure to the Full Spectrum of Care
Students enrolled in the occupational health nursing program at the University of Michigan have the advantage of working with highly qualified occupational health clinical preceptors with extensive experience in identifying and managing employee health issues in corporate, private, and government settings. In addition to being fully credited by their respective Boards, these practitioners have been selected as ideal preceptors based on their exceptional clinical skills and their ability to mentor emerging clinicians in part through working with university faculty to deliver comprehensive clinical education programs.
Due to the diverse clinical placement opportunities available, our clinical settings expose students to a broad application of occupational health nursing clinical practice. For example, one recent student completed a clinical practicum at a Midwestern hospital-based occupational health clinic where she facilitated the design and delivery of a new wellness program for the hospital's employees and assisted in the process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the type of health care provider needed at the facility. Other students have worked with the University of Michigan Environmental Health Sciences Departments to examine bio-hazardous waste improvements to save costs, with a small school district to develop substance abuse education for teachers and parents, and with a manufacturing company to promote the use of an Employee Assistance Program. With many more possible examples, suffice to say that our students have the benefit of working with people of all ages, ethnicities, and levels of the business hierarchy (e.e. management, workers, consumers).
Significant International Outreach and Global Opportunities
University of Michigan's School of Nursing is a designated World Health Organization Collaborating Center in recognition of the School's superior programs in health promotion and research training. With this recognition, of course, comes prestige but, perhaps more important, are the accompanying unique learning opportunities for our students.
Additionally, because of the School of Nursing's international draw and our consequent richly diverse community of scholars, we offer opportunities for occupational health nursing students and faculty to focus and collaborate on global occupational health and safety issues
Innovative, Groundbreaking Research Specific to Occupational Health Nursing
Both to stay on the cutting edge and to push the field forward, the occupational health nursing program faculty and students are actively engaged in research. Recently, faculty research initiatives have included adverse effects of toxic exposures, disease prevention, patterns of professional practice in occupational health nursing, and health promotion. That said, we believe strongly in our students' capacity as researchers in their own right and so our program provides ample opportunity for student-faculty research collaborations. Through this work, the community and the field benefit from continued exploration and discovery while students acquire not only practical research experience, but also content knowledge in areas of importance for occupational health nursing in the coming decades.
Scope
The fundamental goals of occupational health nursing include maintaining a healthy, safe, and productive workforce. Occupational health nurses play a key role in this effort by identifying health hazards in the work environment and proposing appropriate control strategies; designing, implementing and evaluating health programs for the working population; and monitoring and consulting on legislative and regulatory changes pertinent to occupational health and safety. They also identify research questions from occupational health nursing practice and develop the policies and procedures, professional and referral networks, and data-based systems central to occupational health and safety service activities.
Occupational Health nurses often work as occupational health nurse managers or administrators. Family and adult nurse practitioners with a concentration in occupational health nursing have the advanced clinical skills to diagnose and manage work related injuries and illnesses in collaboration with other core occupational health and safety disciplines. Occupational health nurses also work as occupational health services coordinators, emergency preparedness and disaster planners, corporate directors, consultants, educators, and researchers.
Certification in occupational health nursing is offered through the American Board for Occupational Health Nurses and is highly recommended.
Specialty Appeal
Occupational health nurses are in demand. A number of changes have converged to create an increasing need for occupational health nurses, including economic pressures, sharply escalating healthcare costs, an aging and more culturally diverse workforce, emerging infectious diseases, and rapid advances in technology. Within this climate, occupational health nurses are ideally positioned to maximize workers’ health and productivity while controlling costs.
There are a variety of career options for occupational health nurses and so occupational health nursing provides for a variety of distinct opportunities throughout a career. OHNs are needed and appealing to businesses, industry, government agencies, hospital-based and free-standing occupational health clinics, as well as colleges and universities. More specifically, OHNs design corporate health programs, coordinate and manage the care of ill and injured workers, counsel employees on issues such as substance abuse, psychosocial needs, and manage employee assistance programs and referral, conduct surveillance on workplace exposures to a variety of exposures and hazards; analyze data to detect health patterns and trends, and use results to select and implement measures to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses in groups, not just individuals, the list goes on.
In addition to growing demand and flexible application of skills, occupational health nursing is rewarding and challenging. Many occupational health nurses have reported finding great personal fulfillment and satisfaction in working often against the grain in businesses and industry as an advocate promoting workers’ health and their right to safe conditions. In addition, jobs are often dynamic as an occupational health nurse’s responsibilities rely on multiple skills including counseling and crisis intervention, health promotion and risk reduction, legal and regulatory compliance, and worker and workplace hazard detection.
For more information about the profession,visit the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses website.
Curriculum
Listed below is a sample plan of study for the Occupational Health Advanced Practice program, and additional courses required for the family nurse practitioner or adult nurse practitioner occupational health concentration. Students work with faculty advisors to tailor a plan of study that helps them to balance the demands of graduate education with their personal and professional commitments. A weekend format (Thursday-Sunday) and web blended courses are available for some required classes.
Course Number | Course Name | Course Credits |
|---|---|---|
Core Courses | ||
The Theoretical Base for Advanced Nursing Practice | 3 | |
Strategy for Nursing and Health Care | 3 | |
Utilization of Nursing Research in Advanced Practice (An approved statistics and undergraduate research course must be taken before registering for N536) | 3 | |
Specialty Courses | ||
Health Promotion and Risk Reduction Across the Lifespan | 3 | |
Community Health Nursing and Population Assessment | 4 | |
Current and Emerging Issues in Occupational Health Practice | 2 | |
Management for Occupational And Environmental Health and Safety (OEHS) | 2 | |
Interventions with Aggregates and Communities | 4 | |
Managing Community Based Systems | 2 | |
BIOS503 | Introduction to Biostatistics | 4 |
Cognates/Electives | ||
EHS501 | Occupational and Environmental Diseases | 2 |
EHS506 | Principles of Toxicology | 2 |
EHS550 | Industrial Hygiene | 3 |
EHS552 | Occupational Safety | 3 |
EHS556 | Occupational Ergonomics | 2 |
EHS668 | Professional Seminar in Occupational Health | 1 |
EPID503 | Strategies and Uses of Epidemiology | 3 |
Total Credits = 46 | ||
Additional Courses Required for the Family Nurse Practitioner or Adult Nurse Practitioner Occupational Health Concentration | ||
|---|---|---|
Course Number | Course Name | Course Credits |
EHS501 | Occupational Diseases | 2 |
EHS550 | Introduction to Occupational and Environmental Health | 3 |
EHS552 | Occupational Safety | 3 |
EHS556 | Occupational Ergonomics | 2 |
Current and Emerging Issues in Occupational Health Nursing | 2 | |
