Integrating Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing Concepts Throughout the Family Nurse Practitioner Curriculum

Work matters for health and health matters for work. The majority of adults in the U.S. spend nearly half of their waking hours at work. According to the US Department of Labor, in 2007, an estimated 4 million private-sector workers had a nonfatal occupational injury or illness; approximately half of them were transferred, restricted, or took time away from work . Family nurse practitioners are prepared to provide primary care for the entire family across the lifespan, which by definition includes assessing for and treating work-related illness and injury and promoting healthy work environments.

The College of Nursing has partnered with the NIOSH-supported Illinois Education and Research Center (ERC) for the past 30 years. In addition to providing specialty education for a cohort of specialty trained Occupational and Environmental Health Nurses, there is a concentrated effort to integrate occupational and environmental health concepts throughout the FNP management curriculum.  Collaboration among the faculty has resulted in enriching the curriculum to increase FNP student awareness of worker health and related issues.

This presentation will provide an overview of how occupational and environmental health has been threaded across the family nurse practitioner curriculum through lecture content, online activities, and in-class case study discussions beginning with lifespan health promotion and disease prevention for young, middle, and older adults and continuing across the disease management courses. Throughout the online didactic portions, a review of anatomy, physiology, and epidemiology is provided, followed by one or more interactive case studies highlighting an occupational or environmental hazard or exposure with specific learning objectives. Musculoskeletal, respiratory, and dermatologic modules are especially well suited for occupational and environmental health focused content. Learning is evaluated through online multiple choice exams and student self-evaluations. The presentation will include a handout detailing the curriculum outline with resources for other APN programs interested in incorporating occupational health content into their curricula.