Competencies Necessary for Occupational Health Nurses

Introduction Recently stress at work has been increasing due to various factors such as changes in the structure of work. As a result, the roles of Occupational Health Nurses who work based on “the principle of nursing” have been important and Occupational Health Nurses’ roles have been expected. In order to respond to these expectations, Occupational Health Nurses must have sufficient knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to provide competent care.   Objectives The aim of this study is to identify the competencies necessary for Occupational Health Nurses.   Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 Occupational Health Nurses who were recognized as high performers in occupational health nursing by the researchers. The data were qualitatively analyzed according to the 7 fields of competency by Mr. T. Aihara, using the KJ method.   Results In each of these 7 fields consisting of “self”, “human interaction”, “achievement”, “strategy”, “thinking”, “information”, and “time”, 4 main capabilities, namely “their way of thinking about things,” “sense of persistence,” “attitude to work,” and “behavioral characteristic” were picked out as the competencies necessary for Occupational Health Nurses.   Discussion Competencies necessary for Occupational Health Nurses are identified in many countries, but the definition of these competencies differs among researchers or organizations. We think it depends on a difference of how to catch the meaning of the competency. Many include “knowledge and skills” in competency, but we define another competency as “capability” excluding “knowledge and skills”. In order to implement better occupational health nursing, it is important to promote “capability” as well as “knowledge and skills” concerning occupational health nursing.