The Occupational Health Nurse as a Health Educator

Health education has always an integral part of the nursing cess; the nurse is a teacher, directly or indirectly, in every with employees. Historically, the of the occupational health nurse as health educator has been limited stereotyped by management.' role is often hidden within the job description, and is ill-defined difficult to evaluate. Thus, education by occupational health nurses has often been haphazard, ineffective, and viewed as a task rather than an opportunity. Health education has been directed toward care of disease and rehabilitation from disease or adaptation to the same. But now we have come into a new era.

Society's view of health is today than in the past. Prior to 1947 health was viewed from a simplistic unidimensional perspective. The word "health" generally meant freedom from disease. In 1947 the World Health Organization (WHO) redefined health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."2 This is a Utopian state that cannot be achieved. The contemporary view of health encompasses the individual's capacity to live most happily and productively. Health is not a condition, buta process that involves change. This process allows an individual to successfully adapt to a continuously changing environment; and be happy and productive while doing so.

Health education involves the communication of facts designed to providea knowledge base that is aimed at increasing the ability of consumers to make informed decisions which increase their ability to live happily and productively. Health education includes gaining new knowledge, having acquired knowledge reinforced, and modifying old behaviors in light of new knowledge. Thus, health education has a threefold purpose:

1. To motivate people to be interested in being healthy.

2. To provide for them the knowledge base to accomplish purpose #1.

3. To persuade people to act on their knowledge or modify their behavior to become more healthy.

Why should an occupational health nurse be a health educator when she has so many priorities set for her and by her? As was mentioned initially, health education has always been an integral part of the nursing process. No nursing task or function can be performed well without health teaching. Health education is a time-saver for the nurse. For example, 15 minutes of appropriate...