This page contains links to various courses that may be beneficial to occupational health nurse practitioners. Long-term courses are included after short courses.
Assistive Technology and Ergonomics Workshop! - Keytools Limited
What the workshop covers: This workshop gives you access to our wide range of assistive technology including ergonomic keyboards, mice and software such as RSIGuard. The workshop appeals to a wide range of people involved in supporting computer use and includes product demonstrations and the ability for you to participate and discuss the needs of your users. Delegates will gain a good overview of the whole spectrum of ability in computer use from carpal tunnel Syndrome to quadraplegia.
Audience: The workshop is for people who are professionally involved with assessing individuals to facilitate computer access. This includes Health & Safety Officers, DSE Assessors, DSA Assessors, Learning Support Officers, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Health Nurses, Access To Work Assessors, rehabilitation support workers, and SENCOs.of Occupational Therapists
Accreditation: The workshop is accredited by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the College of Occupational Therapists (COT/BAOT). Attendance certificates audited by these organisations are issued to member delegates as appropriate. A Keytools attendance certificate is provided for Institute of Health & Safety (IOSH) members that contributes to their CPD programmes. The workshop provides 6 hours of CPD points for these members.
Workshops still available:
February 18th - Limited spaces!!! February 24th (London) March 23rd April 21st (London) April 27th May 20th June 17th (London) June 22nd
As well as our Southampton centre, we will be running our popular Assistive Technology and Ergonomic Workshop in London this year. We currently only have 3 sessions scheduled, so if you wish to come please book your place soon! How to Book: If you would like to book a place you can:
New short programme offered by the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Birmingham The IOEM have devised the following programmes, further details of which can be found by clicking the link. Contact j.acton@bham.ac.uk if you need further information. Programme C1 - Noise and Hearing loss (2 days) Programme C2 - Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders (2 days) Programme C3 - Worker Mental Health and Wellbeing (2 days) Programme C4 - Occupational contact dermatitis and biological monitoring (2 days) Programme C5 - Requirement for health surveillance and exposure monitoring (2 days)
National Heart and Lung Institute Occupational Asthma Workshop Tuesday 23 February 2010 Registration fee: £120
Brief description: Especially suitable for Occupational Health Advisers, Occupational Health Nurses and Practice Nurses, the day covers current issues in the diagnosis of occupational asthma and work exacerbated asthma in a hospital setting, and examines the role of the Occupational Heath Practitioner in this process. Workplace surveillance is covered, with input on the prevention of occupational asthma. Management of occupational asthma once diagnosed is examined. The implications for patients with such a diagnosis is discussed, and an interview with a patient volunteer is presented. Accreditation: CPD being sought; RCN Accreditation Unit, currently up for renewal Online registration: http://www5.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/coursebookings/occasthma_0910.html
National Heart and Lung Institute Workshop on Lung Function Tests, Asthma and Work: Friday 21 May 2010 Registration fee: £120
Brief description: Suitable for all Occupational Health professionals with a particular interest in spirometry and lung function testing, and their implications in the workplace. Examines the role of lung function testing in the workplace. Covers spirometry, histamine provocation and exercise testing: interpretation, abnormalities, longitudinal changes, individual variation and role in health surveillance; use in pre-employment screening/fitness to work; risk assessment of people with asthma. NB: this is not a practical Spirometry course; a working knowledge of practical spirometry is assumed. Accreditation: CPD being sought; RCN Accreditation Unit, currently up for renewal Online registration: http://www5.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/coursebookings/lungfunctestasthma_0911.html
University of Cumbria Dr. Stuart Whitaker, Senior Lecturer in Occupational Health at the University of Cumbria, Lancaster and Visiting Professor to the University of California San Francisco writes about A comprehensive approach to the education and training of occupational health nurses in the UK
Occupational health services have an important role to play in protecting and promoting the health of the economically active population. As such they can make a significant contribution to the public health agenda. However, their role is not confined solely to improving public health, but also to helping organisations to meet their legal obligations under health and safety legislation, to assisting organisations to manage effectively those issues to do with health that arise during employment and impact on fitness to work, and also to contribute to the success of the organisation in meeting its key business goals. Occupational health advice and services are provided to very diverse types of organisations within a professional framework, within an economic reality, informed by current research and standards of best practice. In order to work safely and effectively within this specialised field professionals need to have access to good quality education and training opportunities. Which are appropriate to their level of practice and desired level of academic study. Many students will successfully pass from one educational level to another, building on the development of their knowledge and academic skills.
At the University of Cumbria we have developed a comprehensive approach to the education and training of occupational health nurses, and in some instances occupational health technicians, to best meet the needs of modern occupational health services. We understand the need for entry level educational opportunities for those nurses, and technicians, who do not want to study at Degree level. For these professionals we offer stand alone continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities, from a single module at Diploma level, to a suite of modules tailored to meet their needs. Some Diploma level students will want to register and study for the award of Diploma of Professional Studies (Occupational Health) by combining these modules in a tailored approach. The modules that these students will study include, for example, the pre employment health assessment, the management of sickness absence, workplace health promotion etc. Students who wish to study these modules, but at the Degree level are enabled to do this by registering for the University Advanced Diploma (Occupational Health). They will study alongside the other Diploma nurses, with additional support, but have their work marked at Degree level. These students then also have the opportunity to extend their studies in the field of occupational health by registering for a BSc Health Studies, using the academic credits gained from the modules that they have completed. This allows occupational health nurses to study a more traditional occupational health curriculum, and gain a first degree qualification. These nurses could make a very significant contribution to the occupational health team in the delivery of high quality occupational health services.
Some nurses will want to become Specialist Practitioners in the field of occupational health and to gain registration under the third part of the NMC Register. For these nurses we offer the BSc Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Occupational Health) award, this can also be studies at the Post Graduate Certificate level for those nurses who already hold a first degree, but do not want to go onto Master’s level study, and at Master’s level in the Post Graduate Diploma, which can be extended into a Master’s Degree. We also offer an MSc in SCPHN for those nurses who want to enter at the Master’s level directly. There are also opportunities for nurses to study at the M.Phil and PhD levels by research.
By adopting this comprehensive approach to the education and training of occupational health nurses, and technicians, we are attempting to provide occupational health services with the broadest possible range of educational opportunities. We recognise that professionals work at different levels and want to study at different levels, but also that the needs of their practice settings may require them to study the more traditional occupational health topics and to become confident practitioners, and for others their needs are to become Specialist Practitioners, confident in providing occupational health advice and services, but also to have a more public health focus to their work. We have recognised that for many years the most senior and experienced occupational health nurses, often already holding specialist qualifications in the field, have had no opportunity to further their academic studies or to work at a higher academic level within the field of occupational health nursing. To meet the needs of these advanced nurses we have created the opportunity to study at the M.Phil and PhD by research, and this development has already attracted applicants from OH nurses across Europe.
We would encourage you to look at the suite of courses that we have developed and would welcome further discussion as to whether this model best meets the needs of occupational health nurses, and where appropriate technicians, for today’s occupational health services. December 2009
MSc in Workplace Health - University of NottinghamSayeed Khan, HSC Commissioner has recently "been involved in developing an MSc in workplace health at the University of Nottingham - it's an e-learning course (similar to distance learning but better). It struck me that a number of OH nurse practitioners might be interested in this".
MSc for occupational health practitioners A new postgraduate qualification has been launched for occupational health practitioners to develop their knowledge and skills in the management of contemporary issues in workplace health. The programme is operated by an experienced team of occupational health professionals, led by Amanda Griffiths (Professor of Occupational Health Psychology), from the Institute of Work, Health & Organisations at the University of Nottingham.
The programme has been developed following research funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) which identified emerging priorities in workplace health and practitioner training needs. The research consulted 30 national experts and 1,600 IOSH members. Priorities it identified which the programme addresses include common mental health problems, managing stress and sickness absence, the changing workforce (older, migrant and temporary workers), new ways of working (telework, flexiwork), return to work and rehabilitation, work-related driving, work-life balance and major events such as pandemics and terrorism, among others.
The programme is recommended for professional development by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS). The programme is supported by EEF – the manufacturers’ organisation, whose Chief Medical Officer, Sayeed Khan, has taken an active role in its development. At the programme launch, Sayeed commented on the need for practitioner education and training in contemporary workplace health issues that have often been relegated to a position of secondary importance behind traditional occupational safety and health concerns. Sayeed observed that practitioners are often equipped to address physical hazards in the workplace as well as the physical illnesses and injuries that may arise from exposure to such hazards. However, in the contemporary world of work, occupational health practitioners are increasingly confronted with psychosocial hazards arising out of the design, management and organisation of work and associated health issues such as stress-related problems that fall outside of the traditional framework. In recognition of the tendency that may exist “to regard the present work conditions and their trends as inevitable and…chip off the rust while the boat sinks” (Levi, Sauter & Shimomitsu, 1999), this programme sets out to provide participants with the knowledge and skills to manage health in the contemporary workplace by drawing on the latest developments in workplace health research, law and guidance and professional practice.
Blended learning The programme operates on a blended format that combines traditional face-to-face learning with e-learning. The MSc involves a total of four intensive three-day campus-based workshops that take place at six month intervals over a two year period. These provide an opportunity for participants to meet, discuss and socialise as well as to participate in seminars led by nationally recognised experts in workplace health. The first workshop-based module, Management of Workplace Health, commences in October 2007 with a series of seminars led by Tom Cox (Professor of Organisational Psychology, University of Nottingham), Sayeed Khan (Chief Medical Advisor, EEF - the manufacturers organisation; Commissioner, Health & Safety Commission), Neil Budworth (ex-IOSH President; Eon-UK), Richard Heron (Vice President for Health, BP International) and Mike O’Donnell (Chief Medical Officer, Unum).
The majority of learning takes place in a password-protected virtual learning environment that can be accessed from any computer with a high speed internet connection. E-learning activities involve video lectures, structured discussions, group and individual work. Participants have online access to the University of Nottingham’s e-library collection through which most required journal articles, ebooks and other resources may be obtained. E-learning recognises the busy professional lives led by occupational health practitioners; it permits participants to study at their own pace any time of the day or night from virtually anywhere in the world. It also allows for the development of a rich set of learning materials incorporating a broad mix of delivery media.
Entry requirements The MSc comprises 10 sequential modules that are studied on a part time basis. Individuals who may not wish to commit to an MSc at the outset may register for the Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma and later transfer to the MSc. The Postgraduate Certificate (4 modules) can be completed in approximately 7 months, Postgraduate Diploma (7 modules) in 15 months and the MSc (10 modules) in 24 months.
Applications are welcomed from practitioners with a degree in a broadly relevant area and access to a computer with high speed internet connection. Participants should be willing to spend some time in discussion and working online with others, sharing and learning from one another’s professional experience. Exceptionally, applicants with significant professional experience and a lower level of qualification may be considered for admission.
References Levi, L., Sauter, S.L. & Shimomitsu, T. (1999). Work-related stress: it’s time to act, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 4, 394-396. June 2007
