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Masters Specialty Area
| FYI/Facts: Occupational/Environmental Health Nursing (OEHN) Specialty | |
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The Advanced Practice Occupational and Environmental Health Nurse
Every year nearly 56,000 U.S. workers die due to a workplace injury or work-related illness; more than three million suffer disabling, work-related injuries.
Advanced practice occupational and environmental health nurses help manage and prevent these injuries and illnesses.
Note: See "Resources/Links" -- below -- for a brochure and newsletters from the UCSF OEHN program.
| Quick-Links: Occupational/Environmental Health Nursing | ||||||||||||
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| Definition/Program | · | Faculty | · | Graduates | · | Courses | · | Questions | · | Resources | · | Applying |
| "UCSF gave me a solid background in occupational health.
The instructors are well known in this area and 'know their stuff'! Naturally, no matter how much schooling one has,
the learning curve is steep once you get out into the real world -- but I felt that UCSF provided me with the right tools to do the job!" Kathryn Rezents Duffy, RN, MS, CS, COHN-S Occupational Health Specialist/Consultant, Alcoa, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA |
The Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH) specialty is rooted in the belief that advanced practice nurses can have a dramatic impact on both individual health and on environmental factors that affect the health of an entire population. It offers interdisciplinary education and training for nurses who wish to become Occupational Health Nurse Practitioners (in conjunction with the Adult Nurse Practitioner [ANP] specialty) and Occupational and Environmental Health Specialists.
Students take courses that explore:
Clinical residencies in specialty clinics and occupational health settings -- including San Francisco General Hospital and the Asian Immigrant Women's Association Garment Workers' Clinic in Oakland, California -- provide a range of experience with experts in the field. Students also complete program development projects at businesses, medical centers, and government organizations in the area. Topics for these projects have included worker education and training, ergonomics, protection from toxic hazards, medical surveillance systems, regulatory compliance assurance systems, emergency response teams, and international travel and disease prevention.
Most students finish the program in two academic years (one calendar year for OEH Specialist) and complete a written comprehensive exam, or, in some instances, a thesis. Students may apply to extend their program over three years.
Applicants who have a bachelor's degree in a field other than nursing (and who are not registered nurses) may be interested in our three-year master's entry program. Please consult the MEPN program page at this web site for more details about this option.
This program is a component of the University of California's Northern California Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), a multi-campus Educational Research Center funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NIOSH has offered training stipends to OEHN students for more than twenty years. The COEH affiliation offers students the opportunity for interdisciplinary training in occupational health with occupational medicine fellows and students in industrial hygiene, epidemiology, and ergonomics.
| "I've always been interested in orthopedics and soon discovered that occupational health is a great way to develop expertise in this area . . . .
At UCSF, I felt embraced by the faculty and by the larger occupational health community, including other occupational health professionals I encountered during clinical rotations." Paula Desroches, RN, MS, OHNP, COHN-S, Nurse Practitioner, Employee Health, Emory Healthcare Systems, Atlanta, GA |
| Quick-Links: Occupational/Environmental Health Nursing | ||||||||||||
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| Definition/Program | · | Faculty | · | Graduates | · | Courses | · | Questions | · | Resources | · | Applying |
Julia Faucett, RN, PhD, FAAN, has been with the OEHN Program since 1990 and was its director from 1994 to 2003. Her focus is on work organization and ergonomics for the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders and injuries in the workplace. She teaches the research seminar for occupational health doctoral students.
"Occupational health is a great field for nurses who are entrepreneurial in nature and who want more autonomy in their practice. Occupational Health Nurses often set up their own prevention and case management programs and can work as independent consultants for large corporate settings, small businesses, or Occupational Health clinics. Over a nurse's entire professional career, Occupational Health offers many opportunities that can provide both variety and career advancement."
Marion Gillen, RN, MPH, PhD, has taught in the OEHN program since 1996. Her interests revolve around injuries in the workplace, their prevention and control, and workplace design issues that contribute to a lower occurrence in injuries. She teaches factors in injury control and health hazards in the workplace and is an occasional guest lecturer in other courses. She is also a peer mediation counselor through the UCSF Problem Resolution Center.
"Nurses have made tremendous strides in reducing injuries in children and the elderly through proactive public and community health programs. Together, we are creating a cadre of experienced occupational and environmental health nurses who can apply public health principles through nursing practice to help address this important issue."
Barbara J. Burgel, RN, MS, ANP, FAAN, COHN-S, has taught in the OEHN and Adult NP Programs since 1981.
Her interest is in low wage worker health and safety, the Nurse Practitioner role in the Workers' compensation system, and painful musculoskeletal conditions and case management. She teaches clinical decision-making in both the Nurse Practitioner and Specialist programs, and co-teaches an occupational injury and illness course with Dr. Paul Blanc.
"Occupational health nursing provides nurses an independent, creative and blended role to often be the only health expert in industry. You use your clinical, management, teaching, counseling and consultation skills, and work at each level of prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary. Each day brings new opportunities to impact groups of workers, and provide safe work for all. Never a dull moment!"
Julie Roberts, RN, MS, PhD, ANP, is an assistant clinical professor, whose research interests include occupational pulmonary disease, the processes of health care, and work disability. She is currently studying health effects in janitors exposed to cleaning agents. Her clinical practice is at the Community Occupational Health Clinic in Oakland, CA.
"The Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing (OEHN) Program has afforded me numerous opportunities to collaborate with experts in the fields of medicine, epidemiology, and industrial hygiene in order to pursue my interest in occupational pulmonary disease. Through the support of this multidisciplinary network, I have been motivated to share my knowledge of lung disease with my fellow nursing faculty and students. The specialized focus on lung disease as a component of the OEHN program has provided many past and current master's students the ability to successfully compete for and receive the American Lung Association of California Advanced Practice Pulmonary Nursing Scholarship, a prestigious and highly competitive award open to all graduate nursing students within the state."
| Quick-Links: Occupational/Environmental Health Nursing | ||||||||||||
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| Definition/Program | · | Faculty | · | Graduates | · | Courses | · | Questions | · | Resources | · | Applying |
Jeanette Landucci
Class of 2000
"Following graduation, I accepted a position as Environmental Health and Safety Manager for three Kaiser facilities in the East Bay. I provide training in safety, environmental health and injury prevention. As the point of contact for regulatory agencies, I manage the Environment of Care programs that include safety, security, hazardous materials and waste, emergency preparedness, fire and life safety, medical equipment, and utility systems management.
"Before enrolling in the UCSF OEHN program, I was an R.N. for 15 years and a commissioned officer in the United States Army Nurse Corps for 12 years. In the program I got the chance to participate as a Federal OSHA Intern in 1999, during which we updated a 1993 OSHA document "Framework for a Comprehensive Employee Health and Safety Program in the Hospital Environment." I found both the students and the faculty to be enormously supportive. They also provided me with vital assistance in landing my current position."
Paula Desroches, RN, MS, OHNP, COHN-S
Class of 1997
"After graduation, I worked at UCSF Employee Health. It was a wonderful position . . . . I loved working in a clinic managed by nurse practitioners. Our practice was largely autonomous and allowed time for in-depth counseling and education. It was my first introduction to workers' compensation and the case management component that often accompanies medical management of work-related injuries. Finally, hospital employee health was my first experience with blood borne pathogen clinical management. After moving to Atlanta, I worked in an orthopedic spine practice followed by an osteoporosis clinic. My advisor, Barbara Burgel, placed me in contact with a past alumna, Frances Childre (UCSF grad, 1984) in Atlanta, who was the Director of Employee Health at Emory. I can only describe this occurrence as the far-reaching power of the UCSF occupational health networking community!
"Occupational health is a unique and exciting arena for advanced practice nurses to make a difference. I've always been interested in orthopedics and soon discovered that occupational health is a great way to develop expertise in this area . . . . At UCSF, I felt embraced by the faculty and by the larger occupational health community, including other occupational health professionals I encountered during clinical rotations."
Kathryn Rezents Duffy, RN, MS, CS, COHN-S
Class of 1992
"UCSF gave me a solid background in occupational health. The instructors are well known in this area and 'know their stuff'!
Naturally, no matter how much schooling one has, the learning curve is steep once you get out into the real world - but I felt that UCSF provided me with the right tools to do the job!"
Additional profiles of OEH Graduates are available in the OEH Newsletter (links below).
Note: the information in presented in Adobe Acrobat Reader (".pdf") format.
If needed, visit the Adobe web site to obtain and install the necessary viewer software.
If you have difficulty opening any .pdf document, get help from our Adobe Problems page.
For other issues of the OEH newsletter, see Resources/Links section below.
| Quick-Links: Occupational/Environmental Health Nursing | ||||||||||||
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| Definition/Program | · | Faculty | · | Graduates | · | Courses | · | Questions | · | Resources | · | Applying |
Curriculum information is available in the following document.
See Resources/Links, below, for newsletter and OEHN-related web sites.
Q: What can I do to make my application "glowing"?
A: Each application is reviewed as a whole. Goal statement, letters of reference, extracurricular activities, language skills, activities on-the-job, research activities, work experience, professional organization activities, and GPA are ALL considered when the application is reviewed. List all of these aspects. Be sure to ask colleagues to review your goal statement. Include examples of on-the job activities. Describe any volunteer and professional activities. Make sure to ask your colleagues for "excellent" references and have them give specific reasons why they believe in your success.
Q: What does my GPA need to be for admission into the program?
A: A GPA of 3.0 is expected for admission into the School of Nursing although special circumstances can be discussed.
Q: What should I write in my goal statement?
A: You should be very clear about why you want to study in the Occupational/Environmental Health program. Your statement should reflect how you have made this decision and your future goals. You need to state why you have chosen OEHN as your specialty.
Q: How much can I work during the program?
A: Students can work, but full-time work is not possible. Students find the most flexibility and best learning opportunities when they have per diem positions.
Q: How do I find housing in the area? Is it expensive?
A: Many of our students find that sharing housing is a good approach to solving both the availability and cost issues. Housing in the Bay Area may be expensive, but help can be found with the Student Affairs Office and campus Housing Office. The MUNI Metro "N" streetcar trains and several bus lines pass by the campus.
Q: What will help me prepare for school?
A: Rest and relaxation before school starts is helpful! Also proficiency with computers (including word processing) is essential.
A brochure describing UCSF School of Nursing's Graduate Programs in Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing is available (below).
Submission instructions for the Barbara Resnik Writing Award are available below:
Policy Analysis: Low Wage Injured Workers and Access to Clinical Care by Glenn Shor is available below:
The OEHN Newsletter is available by selecting among the links below.
Note: the information in presented in Adobe/Acrobat Reader (".pdf") format.
If needed, visit the
Adobe web site
to obtain and install the necessary viewer software.
Having Problems? "File does not begin with '%PDF'?" See our Adobe Problems page for help.
| Quick-Links: Occupational/Environmental Health Nursing | ||||||||||||
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| Definition/Program | · | Faculty | · | Graduates | · | Courses | · | Questions | · | Resources | · | Applying |
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