I am reading the mails on this topic with great interest, as I was a
Health Visitor for twenty years before I came into OH. Doing my degree
with current HV students was an eye opener, as of course when I trained
we did not share courses.
I can see where there may be perceived reservations about the training
issue, but I have no difficulty in collaborating with other disciplines
at all. I was trying to think of an example I might use, which is where
an employee has a child with special health needs, which impact on the
employee re stress and work absence etc. I would easily work with the HV
concerned ( the child being under five) to see how we could best help
the employee to remain in work, and deal with her stress levels.Don't
forget the HV will be able to see how the employee copes in the home
situation, and will have picked up far more about the family dynamics
than I will know. Once the child got to school age, it would then be the
school nurse I might speak to. All with the employees agreement of
course.This is a really simple example, but there will be many more.
As for the public health role, yes I most certainly do feel we have an
important role, but then health visitng has always been within the
public health arena, so it is second nature to me to think about it this
way.
One final comment......I found very quickly that in Occ Health , it is
the experience from all those years of Health Visiting that I draw on
every single day. The training might not have been at degree level at
that time ( 1973) but we were still made to question everything by our
tutor at Sheffield Poly, ( Joan Challinor if anyone knew her) and were
radical for our time!
Health Visitors may have a more easily defined role now, but not then.
We had to fight very hard to make our voices heard, which is exactly
where OH nursing is now. The advantage we have is that government policy
is behind us, so lets be positive and get on with raising our profile in
the public health field as well as anywhere else!
Jean Greening-Jackson Occ Health Advisor
Bradford Met District Council
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Maureen McBain
Sent: 10 November 2006 08:59
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [OCC-HEALTH] OHN/A and Public Health
Dear all,
Do not the OHA/OHNs among you see yourself as part of the public health
movement?
I would really like to hear the views of both this group and other H&S
practitioners on this.
Kevin
Kevin MAGUIRE, CPsychol MCIEH MSc BSc BA, Senior Lecturer, Division of
Criminology, Public Health and Policy Studies, School of Social
Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Burton Street, Nottingham NG1
4BU.
Telephone ++44 (0)115 848 5540
Hello Kevin
OHNa's/OHNs have always played an important role in public health. We as
a professional group deal with both populations as well as individuals
and experienced OHNs work at a strategic level. From my conversations
with OHNs I don't think that is an issue. What does seem to be an issue
is how OH education is delivered. The NMC are now only validating
courses which are taught across the board to other public health nurses
including school nurses and health visitors. When our course was
validated last year we were allowed to have three core units (taught to
all pathways at the same
time.) We were also allowed to have five totally pathway specific units.
Until very recently the NMC seemed to be moving towards all units on
each programme being taught across the board to all pathways - ie
diluting the specialist nature of our programmes. Thankfully due to
successful lobbying that seems to have been dropped.
I am a firm believer in intra-professional learning but I would see more
benefit to both OHNs and the OH team if OHN students shared aspects of
units with those studying other related disciplines such as ergonomics,
health and safety, environmental health, occupational medicine,
physiotherapy, OT and human resources etc etc.... If we are to work
strategically and collaboratively in the workplace we all need a sound
understanding of each others roles. I acknowledge that HV's and School
Nurses each have a important public health roles in their respective
settings but it would be useful to know if there any subscribers to the
list who have worked collaboratively(in the practice setting, not the
classroom), or could site an example where they may work collaboratively
with health visitors or school nurses?
Any thoughts?
Anne
Hi Kevin & Anne
Yes here are my thoughts. In reading the above the following
examples/evidence readily come to my mind;-
1) Kellie Naulls & Elizabeth Roberts who had combined roles of health
visitor and midwife and Kellie was also studying and got her degree from
RGU did an excellent piece of work on health promotion in a rural
setting (the island of Unst on Shetland). Kellie has presented this work
both at the RCN SOHN and the RCN OHN Forum Scotland conferences and
published it in the wider public domain as "A breath of fresh air" in
Community Practitioner vol 76/no4/April 2003. From a professional
perspective she goes into embracing change, health needs assessment,
focus group,the Swan Project, confidentiality and outcomes. I shouldn't
think she would be subscribing to jismail these days but this work is
certainly worthy of promting.
2) The second piece of evidence that comes to mind is more of an opinion
paper titled - Occupational health and school:a natural alliance (2004)
published in the JAN (Journal of Advanced Nursing) 45 (2) pp155-161..
3) The third paper titled "Farmers' occupational health:cause for
concern, cause for action" By Catherine Gerrard publishied JAN (Journal
of Advanced Nursing)vol 28 (1) July 1998 pp155-163.
Perhaps some you may already be aware of the above samples especially
the educators and students who have gone looking for evidence on our
role.
Therefore I aplogise if already familiar territory but I try not to
assumme that people will already have such knowledge.
So the above examples are from UK settings but if one was to go looking
one might find other examples e.g.from around the world like USA and
Australia.
Both the above journals may be accessable through your own library or on
line. If you are interested in the role of the OHN/A from a professional
presepctive like myself then both are worth reading (but this only my
opinion and everyone should make up their own mind).
Lastly I think that nurses who work in OH have always had a public
health role and if you care to look back into the RCN archives and do a
historical review as I have done you will note that public health has
always been part of the educational curricilum. But perhaps is has
become too dilute for some to see these days and if we study our role
(West et al 2001) we see there are other variables to consider such as
the socialisation and constrainting factors placed upon practitioners
within their own working context.
Regards from
Maureen McBain
OHN/Researcher
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