Occupational health nursing graduate degree or certificate anyone?

Specialties Occupational

Published

Hi Everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone has gone through an occupational health nursing graduate degree or certificate program?

If so, what school did you go? Was it distance learning? Has it helped you in the daily job functions of being an occupational health nurse.

I'm very interested in pursuing this field, and would love input.

Thanks in advance :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Bump

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Occupational Health/Legal Nurse Consulting.

There is not really a school of occupational health. Occupational health is a nursing position that entails many extra certifications that you attend classes for. These can be:. COHN or COHN-S, NIOSH Spirometry, COHC, OSHA 30, CCM, etc.

COHN-s is the mainstay of occupational health nursing.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Corrections, Public Health, Occupational Medicine.

I'm an Occupational Nurse NP and pretty much learned everything on the job:)

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Occupational Health; Adult ICU.

Actually, there are many “schools of occupational health,” for nurses.

NIOSH, OSHA’s promulagotory arm funds many. They are called NIOSH ERC’s (NIOSH Education and Research Centers. There are 17.

“NIOSH currently funds 17 university-based Education and Research Centers (ERC). The goal of the ERCs is to provide an adequate supply of qualified personnel, including occupational and environmental health nurses, by providing education. ERCs offer academic and continuing education programs, training and research opportunities.”

See http://aaohn.org/page/niosh-education-and-research-centers

One that I had intended to go to requires that I have a BSN, though they do have a BSN program and one that aims towards Occupational Health Nursing. I am almost finished with my BSN. This is the school that I like:

https://sites.uab.edu/dsc/ The Deep South Center for Occupational Health & Safety

They have a dynamite faculty and one can become an Advanced Nurse Practitioner or a Doctor of Nursing specializing in an Occ Health area.

I’m not sure about this year but in the past, they had lots of $ to assist potential students.

They have both on-campus and distant. Last I looked the "distance" option did require one week attendance on-campus.

As Rbeck911 points out there are many “certs,” depending on what you do. Spirometry is a 3-5 day class that gives you not a certification, but you take a “certified class,” which confuses many. You have completed a NIOSH certified class, you are never NIOSH certified. There are certs for other areas such as Workers’ Compensation case management.

There is COHC (Certified Hearing Conservation) another week-long class that teaches you how to perform hearing tests and set-up run hearing conservation programs.

COHN and COHN-S are "top-level" certificates earned by passing a quite difficult test. Many think that COHN-S (Certified Occupational Nurse Specialist, because it requires a BS degree (not necessarily in Nursing) is better than a COHN. This, in reality is definitively not the case. The COHN-S is more a managerial cert while the COHN is more the nitty-gritty work with workers cert. COHN-S is not “better,” than COHN. Each is different and serves different practice applications. You may only sit for one though you could pass one, move to management and take another which supersedes the first, you may not list both.

From https://www.abohn.org/certification/cohn-cohn-s-eligibility

“There are different education qualifications for the COHN and COHN-S examinations. HOWEVER, if you qualify for both examinations, just having a higher degree does not necessarily mean you should take the examination with the higher degree qualification. Both examination Blue Prints/Test Specifications can be found in each Handbook, and it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you choose the examination that fits your practice, not your level of education.”

Either requires that you have practiced “3000 hours in Occupational Health nursing in the past five years. OR

• the completion of a certificate program in occupational health nursing for academic credit.

• (ABOHN) requires documentation of the certificate program to show a certificate program for academic credit was earned.)

For instance, a Master’s degree from UAB focusing on Occupational Health Nursing (even if it was Workers’ Compensation Case management) suffices to sit for either exam.

If you are interested, I highly recommend following your heart and attending an ERC. You will truly become an expert in that field.

Good luck.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment