[wrightgd]

That should be www.aaohn.org

George

[Mike The Medic]

I have been in OH for over 20 years and have loved every minute of it.

Been around a bit.... Oil refinery, steel works, offshore (Oil & Gas) sugar factory, prisons, construction, retail..... and now am working for all sorts, inc. councils, the travel industry and universities.

Nice to know that other persons in OH go onto such sites as this excellent one.

Lets keep the OH thread going!!!!!

Mike the Medic (My radio call sign in construction!)

[nurseman]

Hi all I just started my career as an occupational health nurse in May. Before that I was at a nursing outpost. I work in an electroplating plant with 3 other nurses and about 800-900 employees.

[travelinrn]

Originally Posted by WayneRN

Hello,
I'm brand new to Occupational Health Nursing. I've been browsing for On-line resources and other OHN's to network with. It doesn't seem like there are very many OHN's that visit these boards. If you're out there, let me know.

Hello WayneRN, I have been a COHN since 2001. I feel fortunate I came across this discussion board for OHNs. I too do not find many OHNs in the medical community. I am employed by an acute care hospital with an occupational healh department. The hospital has contracts with local businesses to supply an certified OHN - that's me. I work four hours Mon-Fri at a petroleum/chemical processing facility with 75 employees, and am a school nurse (appox 3,000 students) 3 hours each day. When school is out I work in the OH department. I am the only RN. All other staff, except the doc are medical office assistants, even the department cordinator is not a nurse. Quite a challenge

[chrisrob]

hi travelinrn your not by any chance from the UK are you? Just a lot of your terminology sounds british

[travelinrn]

My ancesters on both sides are English, Irish and Scottish, but I have never visited or lived in any ofthose countries, just lived for a lot of years.

[DavidFR]

I'm an OH nurse for a large international non-governmental organization which has it's HQ here in Paris. It's my first OH post and having been attracted by the salary (my post is a bi-lingual French/English due to dealing with an international population, so they pay a bonus for my English), I 've found I really enjoy it. It's different from anything I did in my home country (the UK) where I was a clinical nurse specialist in viral hepatitis, and before that in various inpatient specialities (principally infectious diseases and gastroenterology).

I was pleasantly surprised at how varied the job is.
The stringent employment laws in France mean we do a lot for people on being hired and see them every 2 years to re-evaluate their aptitude. Alot of of our people go off to tropical countries on mission, so we fulfil their vaccination/travel medicine needs too. We deal with all the work accidents, work-related illnesses, non-actives etc. We're responsible for the ergonomics - a field totally new to me. People who work here also have to right to come to us with their outside prescriptions, so there is a constant stream of blood tests, injections, ECG's, dressings etc. The organisation hires out our services to other organisations, several banks etc. so I'd say we serve a good 4000 people overall. We offer well woman/well man screening and always have some health promotion campaign on the go like breast cancer awareness or stopping smoking. We have a little emergency room and people do tend to come down to us first before they contact medical help outside, so we do see a range of casualties from minor injuries to (thankfully not too frequent) real emergencies.

I work with one other nurse. Between us we cover the service Monday-Friday from 9 - 6. In the mornings we're on our own and every afternoon one of two OH doctors comes to do medical consultations. We have no secretarial help, so things like records and appointments are also our responsibility.

I think OH is very varied and calls on your wits more than many people realise. You're often on your own making decisions without a doctor, and the decision rests on your head whether to send somebody away or refer them on to an outside doctor, call on the emergency services etc.

[squeek]

you are all very lucky to have your positions.

I am an OR nurse with a permanent back injury ... only mild (discectomy), I can still walk :hatparty:

I have been looking for a new field of practice with minimal physical exertion ... and have chosen OH&S ... hopefully this is a good idea. I have a lot of personal insight hehe.

my problem is finding a position !! I am halfway through an external uni certificate in Occ health ... but am not sure where to go now??? any suggestions appreciated??

cheers Squeek

[chrisrob]

hi squeek, i'm pretty much the same with a back injury that was just getting worse and worse, where i live theres a couple of ways to get into occ health, while i was doing occ health qualifications i signed up with an agency that had some occ health contracts, and got work that way, you also meet the occ health nurse click that way and they let you know what jobs are going, also there are occ health post that will take you when you are studying they take you as treatment nurses, health screening etc, plus occ health journel that has jobs, think your best bet is agency if you can get it, hope this helps difficult though when its different countries. Good luck

[squeek]

hi Chris

thanks for your suggestions, they are a great help! (even in Oz) I have been a bit concerned that I may be out of my depth, but from your suggestions I feel much happier, I would be competent in those positions..
thanks again,
Squeek