An occupational health nursing education program. Relevance to nurses in nonoccupational practice settings

A collaborative effort between community health faculty in an upper division nursing program and nurses from a nearby agricultural health and research center resulted in an educational program focused on occupational health and safety issues in the agricultural industry. The 3 hour class was presented each semester between 1997 and 1999 to RN students enrolled in a community health organization class. In addition to information about the health and safety hazards in agriculture, the nursing students learned about the center's research projects and clinical services available to the farming community. A follow up survey was mailed to the nursing students to evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of the occupational health program by identifying the proportion of the nurses' caseloads spent on occupational health problems, and whether the information and materials presented in the class were relevant to practice. Results showed that even though the surveyed nurses were employed in nonoccupational practice settings, nearly everyone rated the occupational health information as useful. Findings also revealed that although nurses in nonoccupational practice can spend nearly a quarter of their time caring for clients with work related health problems, they may lack adequate educational preparation to do so.