Opinion on occupational health nursing?

jobellestarr · Apr 21, 2017

I used to work as an occupational nurse at a Ford Auto factory. We had 2-3 shifts and I worked 5pm-3am. I liked it but it was hard on my family. If I could have had day shift, I would have stayed. But it depends on the facility and what hours they are open. It's a specialty kind of like infection control. Not bedside nursing for sure. Lots of tracking, etc. Personally, 3am-3pm hours would be horrific to me. But that's just me :)

esrun77 · Apr 21, 2017

I appreciate the honesty. I'm leaning towards accepting the hospital internship just because it may open more doors in the end. Then again, I'm really interested in pediatrics and I'm debating if just getting a job doing respite care for a family with a child with a disability would be better. So much to consider. Thanks for your input!

gnurse330 · Apr 25, 2017

I currently work as a occupational health nurse at a manufacturing plant. We only have one shift, and I work 10 hours 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 4 days/week. I came from a background of being a hospital nurse (started as a tele nurse but has pretty much tried every place in the hospital as a float pool nurse, including Cardiovascular Intensive Care) for 13 years before switching jobs. I love where I am at now; there is a lot of paperwork, though, and a lot of case management, education and community health nursing involved.

Like I said, I love my job now (I was definitely heading towards the burnout phase by the time I left the hospital) and it saved my nursing career, but I do not think I would have been able to transition into this role as smoothly as I did had I not had experience as a bedside nurse. Not only does working at the hospital teach you the most important skills in nursing (communication, time management, teamwork), but it also gives you credibility. As a nurse, you are taken much more seriously by your patients if they know that you have "seen it all". The leadership in the plant takes a nurse who has hospital experience a lot more seriously too, whether that is right or wrong, founded or unfounded. Occupational health nursing, though collaborative, is ultimately an independent sort of work, and as such, the nurse working in that kind of setting is expected to be proactive, adaptable and able to function autonomously. Unless you work at the main hub of the company where they have a fully staffed medical department with doctors and countless other nurses, an occ health nurse would more often than not be the only medical professional in the plant.

I have said this to many nurses I have precepted as students, and I will say it again: nothing beats hospital experience. If you can stick it out for a year or two, you'd be in a much better position to decide where you would really like to go in the long run. The most important thing as a new nurse is to make sure that you lay the foundation so that you can have that choice later on. I have never been not offered any position I applied to whether it be home health, hospice, travel nursing, community health, etc), and I know that can be credited to the fact that my hospital experience is rock solid.

I hope this helps! Good luck with whatever you decide to do :)