If you are a Registered Nurse who would like to provide proactive, preventive occupational health and safety programming in a business setting, Occupational Health Nursing may be for you!
The focus of Occupational Health Nursing is the relationship between the work, the work environment and worker health. Occupational Health Nursing aims ultimately to improve, protect, maintain, and restore the health of workers, thereby influencing the health of the organization.
Clients in Occupational Health Nursing practice include the organization as a whole, groups of employees and individual employees. This specialty program is grounded in the notion of partnership: between nurses and management, labour, and workers; between nurses and other health and safety professionals; and between nurses and community resources. Using a multidisciplinary approach, Occupational Health Nurses (OHNs) contribute to the achievement of a healthy, productive and successful company by understanding and supporting organizational business goals.
Successful occupational health nurses demonstrate:
To see OHNs in action watch this video on the role of the Occupational Health Nurse/Nurse Advisor from Worksafe BC.
This program provides the specialized body of knowledge, skills, and leadership abilities to practise at a beginning level in a wide variety of organizations. It offers experienced Registered Nurses either an Advanced Specialty Certificate in Occupational Health Nursing after completing 33 credits, or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Specialty Nursing (BSN) after completing 27 more credits (for a total of 60 credits).
Completion of the BCIT Occupational Health Nursing Advanced Specialty Certificate program provides the educational foundation and decreases the experience requirements for eligibility to apply to write the CNA Occupational Health Nursing certification examination. For further information contact the Certification Program.
Below are a list of questions new applicants frequently ask. If you have a question that is not answered here, please contact us directly.
Yes - you must be licensed as a Registered Nurse.
TopYes all 33 credits are transferable.
TopNo - there is no application process. You can register directly online.
TopYes - while the courses have been designed to be taken sequentially, you may register in any course in the program (with the exception of clinical courses) as continuing education or to fulfill elective requirements in an undergraduate nursing program. However, it is advisable to discuss your choices with the Program Head.
TopThe program is 33 credits - 8 three credit theory courses (24 credits) and 3 clinical courses (9 credits).
TopThat depends on how much time you have to devote to course work. Each 3 credit course is the equivalent of 45 hours of contact time spread over 12 weeks.
TopYes as long as you are licensed as a Registered Nurse in your home location.
TopThe first course in the program is NSOH 7100 - Introduction to Occupational Health Nursing.
TopYou may be eligible to receive credit through the prior learning assessment (PLAR) process or by course challenge. Contact the Program Head for more information.
TopYou may be eligible to receive transfer credits for NSSC 7115 (Teaching and Learning) and BUSA 7250 (Management Skills). Contact the Program Head for further information.
TopDo you have credits from another BC/Yukon post-secondary school? Do you want to know if they transfer to courses here at BCIT? Check out BCIT's Transfer Equivalency Database to find out.
Job opportunities are expanding, and are often related to disability management activities. Some opportunities may be part-time, in settings with other OHNs or through agencies, in addition experienced occupational health nurses are often self-employed. Salaries vary widely based on type of industry and the nature of the job description.
Janet Morrison RN, MA, PhD(c), COHN(C)
Program Head
Janet_Morrison@bcit.ca
604-451-7082
Toll-free: 800-663-6542 x 7082
Stephanie Wood
Program Assistant
Stephanie_Wood@bcit.ca
604-453-2230
Toll-free: 800-663-6542 x 2230
Sandra McIvor
Program Assistant
Sandra_McIvor@bcit.ca
604-432-8982
Toll-free: 800-663-6542 x 8982
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As BCIT strives to keep our programs current, programs and courses are subject to change without notice.