November 2022 NEWSLETTER

 

From the AAOHN Foundation

As we enter the holiday season, I hope each of you take the time to enjoy time with family and reflect on the past year. 

Earlier this year, I attended Nurses Night at the Legislature which was an impressive opportunity to speak one-on-one with legislators and educate them on the key role of the Occupational Health Nurses. The conversation reminded me that some lack a full understanding of the vital role Occupational Health Nurses play in ensuring a healthy and safe workforce. Our efforts to create a healthy, productive workforce adds value to our economy. I challenge each of you to ensure that the leadership within your company, as well as the general public, understands the importance of your role. 

As we think about keeping Occupational Health Nurses at the forefront, I would like to remind you of ways to support the AAOHN Foundation. If you are an AAOHN Fellow, we request your consideration in joining The Fellows Leadership Circle. 

Anyone can make a tax-deductible donation at any time by accessing our on-demand process here.

Now, we're introducing an additional option to support the AAOHN Foundation. The enclosed link is to a toolkit with a letter that can be shared with your company and other contacts as well as pre-written social media posts. We invite you to use these tools to seek sponsors for fundraising, donations, or support of our AAOHN Foundation event at our upcoming conference.

Have an awesome holiday season!

 

Ralph Brown RN, COHN-S, CCM, FAAOHN

Vice Chair AAOHN Foundation 

Episode 5

A Closer Look into OSHA’s Office of Occupational Medicine and Nursing

We sit down with OHN, Melanie Hayes, DNP, APRN, FNP-C to discuss her current role at OSHA and past roles with the Department of Navy.

Melanie first gained experience with occupational health in her nursing role at the Department of Navy. From this experience, she prioritized advancing her education in occupational health nursing and was fortunate to have found a grant specific to occupational nursing at an ERC DNP program to accomplish this goal. She started at the OOMN as a Graduate Nurse Intern after pitching her DNP project on Hearing Protection Device fit testing implementation into an OHN clinic and later filled a nursing vacancy within the department. The nursing staff at the OOMN works on issues such as the bloodborne pathogen standard, respiratory protection standard, workplace violence issues and currently the preparation for regulatory heat standard rules. In addition, as the first Advanced Practice Nurse in the office of OOMN, Melanie also works on the more complex cases such as the enforcement consultation cases for medical issues and gives us insight into the work of organization.

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