Role Perception and Expectation of Occupational Health Nursing from a Survey in North Carolina

Role Perception and Expectation of Occupational Health Nursing from a Survey in North Carolina: Naoko S ato , Tokyo Women's Medical College. School of Nursing —A descriptive study was conducted of 32 occupational health nurses working in North Carolina, 54 of their employers and 87 of their company employees. By using self‐administered questionnaires, subjects were assessed as to the level of performance in 16 occupational health nursing activities to examine their current perceptions and future expectations for occupational health nursing roles. It was found that occupational health nurses currently perform numerous activities, such as direct care services, administrative tasks for the management of the occupational health department, and collaborative tasks with other health disciplines. Comparing the perceptions in the three groups, employees perceived greater needs than nurses with respect to planning and developing educational programs (p<0.05) and conducting research (p<0.01), whereas employers perceived the occupational health nursing roles similarly to nurses. Occupational health nurses, employers and employees had high expectations for the future in all activities. Among 16 activities, in particular, health policy development was reported as the priority activity by the nurses, in which they reported a significantly higher mean score for expectation than the employers (p<0.05). The results from this study indicate that occupational health nurses should have their autonomy increased in developing and managing high quality occupational health nursing. Occupational health nurses need to develop their ideal roles to meet the high expectations of employers and employees.