Occupational health teaching for pre registration nursing students

The amount of time spent teaching occupational health and the methods used to teach this subject in the pre registration nursing programmes in the UK was surveyed. Questionnaires were sent to the Deans of all 66 Schools of Nursing identified from the UCAS list in 2000. Forty six responded. Five returns were rejected because they did not meet the study criteria, giving a final response rate of 67%. The 41 schools were providing 33 Nursing Diploma and 31 Nursing Degree courses. The results indicate that occupational health is taught on the majority of Nursing Diploma (88%) and Degree (80%) courses. The main method of teaching is by lectures, with a smaller number of courses offering the opportunity for seminars and project work. However, the subjects covered under this heading frequently relate to the occupational health and safety issues that nurses need to know about in order to protect their own health and safety. It is rare that the broader concept of how a patient or client's health can be affected by their work or how their health may affect their ability to work, remain in employment or, for populations, its impact on sustainable development at the community level, are addressed. It is recommended that all nurses should receive some training in the broader concepts of occupational health at the pre registration level so that they can develop an awareness of the relationship between work and health, at both the individual and community level. This survey parallels a similar exercise carried out with medical students that identified a worrying decline in the teaching of occupational health at the undergraduate level.