Does occupational health nursing exist in India?

Background: Occupational health services are important to develop healthy and productive work forces, which should be delivered through occupational health team. Occupational health nurse (OHN) is an important member of this team and is required to apply nursing principles in conserving the health of workers in occupational settings.

Purpose: This article attempts to map the occupational health nursing courses in India and design competencies and curriculum for such a course.

Materials And Methods: Information through the Internet, printed journals, and perspectives of the key stakeholders were the principal sources of data.

Discussion: In India, there is a need to initiate a course on occupational health nursing to provide occupational health services for the organized and unorganized sector workforce. A certificate course for occupational health nursing for 3-4 months duration offered through contact session mode can be an opportune beginning. However, to cater employed nurses an online course can be another effective alternative. The theoretical part should essentially include modules on occupational diseases, industrial hygiene, and occupational health legislation, whereas the modules on practical aspects can include visits to industries. Taking into account the existing norms of Indian Factories Act for hazardous units of organized sector an estimated 1,34,640 OHNs are required.

Conclusion: There is a need-supply gap in the number of occupational health nursing manpower in India, which can be attributed to the absence of any course to train such manpower.