Occupational Health Nursing is playing an increasingly important
role in providing health care services
to Nova Scotian workers and their
families. Beyond health maintenance and restoration after individual
illness or injury, Occupational Health Nurses
provide their clients a bridge to a healthier workplace, benefit to individual
employees and to the organization for
which they work. Whether it is through prevention and awareness
programs or through confidential employee assistance organizations,
employee
wellness is the goal.
An OHN is a Registered Nurse with specialized training in Occupational
Health and Safety issues in the workplace. These dedicated
professionals can be found in a variety of organizations: Industry, Business,
Governments, Health Care Facilities,
and Community Agencies. Companies are becoming more aware that the workplace
affects employee health and that employee health affects workplace
productivity. In each situation, the Occupational
Health Nurse is focused on keeping people healthy...feeling good about themselves
and contributing to the success of the organization for whom they work.
It's a win-win
situation for the individual, the family and the organization.
From it's early days, where the emergency response “first aid” services
were the priority, Occupational Health Nursing has matured to reflect
modern social and business philosophies... part of what might be called
“best practices” in human relations. In most large organizations, the
Occupational Health Nurse
has become an integral part of a team of professionals who blend the elements of safety, wellness and medical services within the workplace. Occupational Health Nurses promote health workplace policies, as built-in blueprints, necessary to create supportive environments. Policies can be effective in changing the behavior of all employees. They enable employee and employers to implement a global approach toward targeting specific problems in the workplace.
