Online, On-Demand


Course credits: 0.4
Course contact hours: 4

Class description

Fundamentals of Occupational Health for Nurses

Asynchronous, online, on-demand course available now through October 17, 2026.

The course brings together content from an expert line-up of faculty and practicing professionals in an online, on-demand format that includes video lectures, interactive activities and case-based problem solving in order to increase competency of nurses and other healthcare providers with occupational health responsibilities. The program is designed to familiarize practicing nurses with occupational injuries and illnesses and the tools and resources to recognize, diagnose, treat, and report them.

View the Course Flyer to view the contributing faculty and course modules.

Learning Objectives

Learners who complete this course will be able to:

  1. List three laws applicable to the practice of occupational health nursing.
  2. Discuss the importance of interprofessional collaboration in an effective, comprehensive workplace health and safety program.
  3. Describe the procedure for taking a comprehensive occupational and environmental health history in a clinical context.
  4. List five elements of a total worker health program as a strategy for injury and illness prevention.
  5. List four factors that influence an injured employee’s ability to return to work.
  6. Identify recordkeeping requirements and forms for documenting occupational injuries and illnesses.
Audience:
Nurses going into jobs with OHN responsibilities with no education or experience in occupational health.

The course was developed in collaboration with the UW School of Nursing.

Continuing Education Information:

Accredited continuing education for nurses and other healthcare and public health professionals will be available upon course completion.

When you have completed the course, instructions will be accessible to request a UW DEOHS CE Certificate of Completion for 0.4 CEUs from ce@uw.edu or to navigate to the CDC Continuing Education site to obtain accredited CNE for 4 CNE credits.

ACCREDITATION STATEMENTS:

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety, University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

CNE: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates this activity for 4 nursing contact hours.

DISCLOSURE: In compliance with continuing education requirements, all planners and presenters must disclose all financial relationships, in any amount, with ineligible companies during the previous 24 months.

CDC, our planners, and content experts wish to disclose they have no financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, reselling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

Content will not include any discussion of the unlabeled use of a product or a product under investigational use.

CDC did not accept financial or in-kind support from ineligible companies for this continuing education activity.

FEES: No fees are charged for CDC’s CE activities.