Nurses go beyond employee wellness
Employers strongly view occupational health professionals as crucial to employee retention and a healthy financial bottom line, according to results of a study commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN). This comes as no surprise to Jennifer J. Lim, MSN, RN, COHN-S/CM, FAAOHN, national health director for Westminster, CO-based Comprehensive Health Services, an occupational health consulting firm.
A company’s nurse is like a pebble dropped into the center of a pond, she notes, creating ripples that affect employee health, work force retention, regulatory compliance, and spending. “Occupational health nurses [OHNs] are considered the key to a company’s health,” Lim says. “We used to be ‘the Band-Aid nurses,’ but now we’re in charge of OSHA, we administrate programs, and make sure the company is in compliance for those programs.
“Employers know the importance of a well work force, and who better to deliver that message than a nurse, the person who surveys show is the most trusted of all health care professionals?”
Employers: OHNs ‘invaluable
AAOHN released findings from the study at its annual symposium and expo in May. The study was undertaken to gauge executive management’s thoughts on issues pertaining to employee health and wellness, and on the role of occupational health nurses.
AAOHN president Susan A. Randolph, MSN, RN, COHN-S, FAAOHN, says the association hopes results will help those in the occupational health industry better understand the opinions of corporate decision makers and the landscape of employee health from the employer perspective. “Understanding the employer mindset on employee health is imperative for the occupational health industry to effectively make an impact,” she explains.
Armed with that knowledge, she continues, occupational health staff will be able to better address employee health issues, understand executive management’s goals and perspectives, and “ultimately be better equipped to prove their true value and benefit within the workplace.”
The study includes responses from interviews of more than 100 human resources executives, medical directors, and environmental health and safety professionals from a variety of industry backgrounds. Employers responded to questions regarding how they felt about overall employee health, key indicators for hiring an occupational health nurse, and their understanding of how employee health truly impacts their company bottom line.
Seventy-two percent of the executives interviewed indicated that keeping employees healthy is crucial to business success, and that they believe it is their duty to keep employees safe and well.
Executives listed some signals that, for them, indicate the need to hire an occupational health nurse, including:
- high injury or illness rate;
- high absenteeism;
- increase in workers’ compensation cases;
- government mandates and compliance.
Half of the employers interviewed responded that they don’t know the true cost related to employee health and disability issues. However, companies that indicated they have determined the true costs of employee health issues tended to be the most active in offering value-focused employee health activities such as health and wellness programs, according to the research study findings.
When asked about the value they place on occupational health nurses in the workplace, nearly 60% of those surveyed described their occupational health nurses as “invaluable” to their company.
Executives said the top four benefits that occupational health nurses bring to their businesses are: reduced workers’ compensation claims; better bottom line, due to health and safety programs; reduced absenteeism; and reduced incidence of injuries and fatalities.
When asked to define the roles and activities of occupational health nurses, employers consistently used four descriptors, according to the AAOHN: gatekeepers for health services; providers of treatment, follow-up and referrals, and emergency care for job-related injuries; partners with employers in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements (OSHA, Family Medical Leave Act, and HIPAA); and supporters of employers’ health care quality and cost-containment strategies.
“We were very pleased with the findings,” says Randolph. “We were interested to see [employers] link occupational health promotion and health protection.”
The results, she says, indicate that the occupational health industry has done a good job at reducing injuries and illnesses and demonstrating both the short-term and the long-term benefits. “Now we’re integrating the health promotion aspect, which will be more important in the years to come, considering the aging population and the prevalence of chronic diseases,” she says. “There’s a whole host of other things that we can do. We just need to do a good job to show that benefit.”
Delving into new territory
Universally recognized as important to reducing injuries and illnesses, occupational health professionals are now making inroads into demonstrating to employers their importance as proactive, not just reactive, components in a company’s health care and management worlds.
“We’re delving into new territory, to capture those wellness programs and be partners in the health and well being of employees,” says Lim. “For example, by doing smoking cessation programs, we’re benefiting the employee’s health and possibly extending his or her life, but we’re also reducing the employer’s associated health care costs; we’ve done the monetary studies, and know the savings from disease management.”
Cost savings — a key factor, employers say, in determining whether they hire an occupational health nurse — are easy to demonstrate using a flu vaccination program as an example, Lim says. “Flu programs are administered by occupational health nurses, and almost 50% of employees in major corporations are participating in flu immunization programs,” she says. “With everyone we prevent flu in, we not only retain their [presence], we can save $100 to $190 per day in lost productivity.”
Employers are realizing, Lim says, that occupational health nurses “are the key to the health and well-being of corporations, and companies are very sensitive to those things.”
Retention of good employees is a priority to attracting the best new employees, and Lim says that companies that can demonstrate retention and a healthy environment stay ahead of the curve in attracting top employees. Companies with only a few employees, while perhaps not able to afford an on-site nurse, are taking small but important steps in health and wellness in the workplace, Lim points out. “Small businesses are doing what they can afford,” she says “They contract wellness programs, or flu shot programs, or weight loss programs, and they make a difference.”
For more information, contact:
- Jennifer J. Lim, MSN, RN, COHN-S/CM, FAAOHN, National Health Director, Comprehensive Health Services, 3072 W. 107th Place #C, Westminster, CO 80031. E-mail: [email protected].
- Susan A. Randolph, MSN, RN, COHN-S, FAAOHN, president, American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, 2920 Brandywine Road, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30341. Phone: (770) 455-7757.
Employers strongly view occupational health professionals as crucial to employee retention and a healthy financial bottom line, according to results of a study commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content