Pre-employment screening or initial health assessment? A study of New Zealand occupational health nurses’ practice
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Other Title
Authors
Haywood, Barbara
Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)
Degree
Master of Nursing
Grantor
Eastern Institute of Technology
Date
2004
Supervisors
Marshall, Bob
Mercer, Christine
Mercer, Christine
Type
Masters Thesis
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
New Zealand
occupational health nurses
pre-employment assessments
screening
nursing practice
primary health care
surveys
occupational health nurses
pre-employment assessments
screening
nursing practice
primary health care
surveys
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Haywood, B. J. (2006). Pre-employment screening or initial health assessment? A study of New Zealand occupational health nurses’ practice. (Unpublished document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Nursing). Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), New Zealand.
Abstract
Occupational health nurses in New Zealand complete pre-employment assessments as part of the employment process. There is ambivalent information within the literature on the effectiveness of pre-employment assessments and little literature on the current practice of occupational health nurses in New Zealand. This study sets out to describe current assessment practice by occupational health nurses in New Zealand and to describe what nurses do when the nurse assesses an applicant who has some undiagnosed pathology.
This study was conducted by a postal questionnaire which was sent to members of the New Zealand Occupational Health Nurses Association. The questionnaire included questions about the type of assessments the nurse made during pre-employment assessments, what actions the nurse took when discovering an abnormal symptom and how the nurses referred the applicant for further health care.
The study indicates that 20% of applicants assessed by occupational health nurses have abnormal signs and symptoms and that occupational health nurses refer these applicants to a wide range of other health professionals. The responses also indicate that occupational health nurses in New Zealand need to be more aware of the sections of the Human Rights Act 1993 related to the employment process. It is suggested that occupational health nurses who wish to do more than the essential assessments related to job tasks complete Initial Health Assessments after the applicant has been employed.
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