I understand what you are saying and agree there should be a record of
'specialist nursing practice' but not all OH qualifications - or for that
matter other qualifications are 'nursing' - or medicine. I have a
professional colleague - a nurse who has a PhD in physiology and was
teaching in-flight nursing - so she did a course in Aviation medicine (and
was one of the 60% who passed the exam) and was refused the qualification
because she was not a medical doctor. I have 2 qualifications that are not
recognised by the NMC because they are not nursing qualifications. If an
employer wants to know I have my PGCEA and the MSc he/she can see my
certificates and verify these with the relevant university. The
qualifications indicate that I have the knowledge - but not the skills, and
competency is about knowledge, skills and understanding. Although I must say
that the PGCEA did require supervised practice.

Nurses are required to keep a record of their CPD in a portfolio and to
reflect on what they have learnt and how it applies to practice. They may
have to produce a profile for audit by the NMC. They are required to
complete a Notification of Practice form that tells the NMC where they are
working and in what capacity. They are encouraged today to undertake
specialist (nursing) practice qualifications. Some nurses working in OH
choose not to do 'nursing' OH specialist practice courses but to do courses
such as NEBOSH etc. - therefore they cannot be recorded by the NMC. Some
universities and colleges have explored 'joint' qualification and where this
has happened qualifications are recordable - e.g. if they follow the nursing
pathway for the MSC from Robens they have both a recordable qualification
and depending on other modules they may also have qualifications with other
bodies. I am sure the GMC does not record NEBOSH either - but some OH nurses
think that NEBOSH is a more suitable course for practice as an OH
nurse..................it will depend on ones philosophy and definition of
nursing!!

Now there's a whole new debate.....

Greta


----- Original Message -----
From: Kate Venables
<[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2003 12:17 PM
Subject: Re: nurse numbers in OH


Why?  In the context of medical specialisation, to facilitate revalidation
by the GMC.  The continuing updating and audit of specialist practice is as
important for nurses as for doctors.

Again, in the context of doctors, to aid planning.  Although OH has been
left out of the planning loop by DoH, it is helpful to have up-to-date
figures.  Ditto for nurses as for doctors.

B/w - K


>>> Greta Thornbory <[log in to unmask]> 08/02/03 00:07:25 >>>
May I ask why there needs to be a database of OH nurses with a specialist OH
qualification especially as there is absolutely no need to have one to
practice in OH? The NMC holds recognised 'nursing' qualifications - not
recognised OH qualifications and, as I understand it, an MSc in Medical
Science is not a nursing qualification it is an OH qualification. If the NMC
were to record/recognise all qualifications that nurses may hold it would be
rather a large unwieldy database with 644K nurses registered. For example -
I have a PGCEA which is not recognised by the NMC because I am not trained
as a 'nurse tutor', but a teacher of adults - this means I can teach all
sorts of adults and not just nurses - but it is not a nursing qualification
and as far as I can see is much more useful in OH!!!

I believe that what is far more important is that the NMC use the data they
collect from 'Notification of Practice' forms to inform about how many
people are practicing in a given field of practice - this would enable those
involved with post registration nurse education to develop relevant courses.

Greta


----- Original Message -----
From: diane romano woodward <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 9:24 PM
Subject: Re: nurse numbers in OH


> Here, here , Lucy
> (But then I would say that because we have the same qualification)
> The AOHNP gives each of its members a networking directory of all the
other
> members contact details and their area of special interest or expertise.
> Probably of more use than just which qualifications they have...
>
> Diane
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Adrian & Lucy" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 8:41 AM
> Subject: Fw: nurse numbers in OH
>
>
> > > Indeed.  The problem in OH is that there are a substantial number of
> > > excellent post-reg / post-grad courses that are not yet recognised by
> the
> > > NMC.  The M.Sc. at the Institute of Occupational Health being one of
> them!
> > > Disappointed as I am that it has not been recognised, it does save me
a
> > > registration fee on the OH register that I have thus far not needed
for
> > > employment.   I do always notify the NMC that this is the area I
> practice
> > > in.  Maybe the SOHA and AOHNP could provide a database like the SOM
> does?
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Greta Thornbory" <[log in to unmask]>
> > > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > > Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 10:19 PM
> > > Subject: Re: nurse numbers in OH
> > >
> > >
> > > > Unfortunately the NMC does not give a breakdown of the specialist
> > > > practitioner qualification - unless I missed it! I have just checked
> > their
> > > > stats and at March 2002 only 3185 OH nurses had recorded their
> > > qualification
> > > > and 8,917 specialist practitioners - however, there is no breakdown
of
> > > > specialist practitioners!
> > > >
> > > > Lets hope the NMC make more use of the information they get from the
> > > > Notification of Practice Forms to give a clearer picture in future
of
> > who
> > > > works where!
> > > >
> > > > Greta
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: Kate Venables
> > > > <[log in to unmask]>
> > > > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > > > Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 7:49 PM
> > > > Subject: Re: nurse numbers in OH
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > And, of those, how many are entered as specialist practitioners in
the
> > NMC
> > > > register?  - K
> > >
> >