Occupational and Environmental Health Nurses CODE of ETHICS

Occupational and Environmental Health Nurses

CODE OF ETHICS

Preamble occupational and environmental health nursing values, maintains the integrity of The American Association of Occupational Health our specialty practice area and the nursing Nurses, Inc. (AAOHN) recognizes the “American profession, and integrates principles of Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics for social justice into nursing and health Nurses” as foundational to nurses in all roles, policy. As such AAOHN: settings and practices, and has used the ANA Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements as a model for  Envisions workplace and community licensed nurses in the practice of occupational and environments that are healthy and safe. environmental health. The AAOHN Code of Ethics  Carries out its’ mission by advancing the for Nurses (The Code) augments standards of specialty practice through innovative nursing care, providing a non-negotiable ethical professional and leadership development, framework for decision-making and evaluation of networking, and career opportunities. nursing actions as occupational and environmental  Advocates for legislation, regulations, and health nurses (OHNs) fulfill their professional public policy that positively impact the responsibilities to society and the profession within occupational and environmental health their licensed scope of practice. The Code is a nursing specialty. statement of the ethical values, obligations, duties  Promotes the occupational and and professional principles of occupational and environmental health nursing specialty environmental health nurses individually and through marketing and public relations collectively. campaigns that emphasize the value of its members to private employers, The Code is based on the belief that the goal of government, professional, and other occupational and environmental health nurses is to business and professional groups i.e. promote the health and safety of the worker, CDC, NIOSH, SHRM, ACOEM, ANOHP, and workers’ families/significant others, worker AIHA among others. populations, community groups and employers. The  Collaborates with other professional needs of these groups sometimes conflict. The OHN nursing organizations i.e. ANA, the is responsible for balancing these needs while Nursing Organizations Alliance, and actively advocating on the behalf of all parties. ABOHN among others to promote Occupational and environmental health nursing understanding of the occupational and practice focuses on promotion and restoration of environmental health nursing specialty’s health, prevention of illness and injury and role and influence on domestic and global protection from occupational and environmental workers’ health and safety. hazards. The occupational and environmental nurse has a unique role to protect the integrity of the II. The occupational and environmental health workplace and the work environment. nurse (OHN) practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, I. The American Association of Occupational and unique attributes of every person. In Health Nurses (AAOHN) articulates this capacity the OHN:

 Respects and protects the rights and  Recognizes all persons hold a variety of privacy of research participants including beliefs and values influenced by different obtaining voluntary informed consent; backgrounds, cultures, and community or  Strives to protect clients, the nursing work environments. profession, and the specialty practice of  Provides services based on respect for occupational and environmental health each individual’s beliefs, value system, nursing from incompetent professionals and autonomy. and individuals who misrepresent  Provides health care and occupational themselves, by reporting to appropriate health and safety services without authorities all persons who exhibit neglecting clients even when they refuse incompetent, unethical or illegal actions. help or personal convictions conflict with the client’s needs. V. The occupational and environmental health  Recognizes there are times when the rights nurse (OHN) has authority, accountability, and obligations of society outweigh those and responsibility for nursing practice; of the individual and require decisions makes decisions; and takes action based on the risk of harm or endangerment consistent with the obligation to prevent to all concerned including the public’s illness and injury, promote health, and health. provide optimal health care. As such, the OHN: III. The occupational and environmental health nurse's (OHN) primary commitment is to  Adheres to all laws and statutes (local, the client, whether an individual, group, state, federal, and international) including community, or population. As such the those that govern occupational and OHN: environmental health nursing practice;  Upholds professional codes and current  Works independently as prescribed by practice standards; scope of license but collaborates with  Refers or delegates to appropriate other occupational health and safety professions or health services. professionals, employers, and workers to plan and deliver services that promote VI. The occupational and environmental health health and protect clients from injury and nurse (OHN) owes the same duties to self illness. as to others, including the responsibility to  Cooperates with professionals from other promote health and safety, preserve health and safety professions, human wholeness of character and integrity, resources, medical benefits, rehabilitation maintain competence, and continue services, workers’ compensation boards, personal and professional growth. The healthcare providers, or vendors to reduce OHN: absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost work time due to injury or illness.  Acknowledges the importance of life-long learning including continuing and IV. The occupational and environmental health advanced educational activities and use of nurse (OHN) promotes, advocates for, and evidence based research to maintain protects the rights, health, and safety of competence in practice ; the client. In this role, the OHN:  Strives for excellence in all endeavors, by maintaining a level of knowledge,  Maintains the confidentiality of personal judgment, technical skills, and and health information of clients and professional values necessary for protects the privacy rights of workers’ delivering quality health services; personal identifiable information as  Is accountable for actions that comply with prescribed by local, state, federal and nurse practice acts, standards of practice international guidelines, policies and other laws or regulations governing regulations and laws. occupational and environmental health  Develops and routinely updates written nursing practice; policies and procedures guiding access,  Collaborates to develop policies that release, transmission, and storage of promote competent, ethical, and legal personal and health information, including nursing practice; electronic records;

VII. The occupational and environmental health and health care resources to meet clients’ nurse (OHN), through individual and needs; collective effort, establishes, maintains,  Recognizes and acts to address issues and improves the ethical environment of and dilemmas affecting the health, safety, the work setting and conditions of and welfare of society; employment that are conducive to safe,  Delivers education and training about work quality health care. In this role, the OHN: hazards, methods to decrease work hazards and prevent harm, and the OSHA  Advocates for and protects all persons’ or MSHA standards that apply to their rights to a safe, healthy and ethical work workplace in a language and vocabulary environment; workers can understand;  Demonstrates impartiality, fairness, and  Offers health education, health counseling objectivity when resolving personal and or coaching, and health promotion workplace conflicts; activities in a language and vocabulary  Uses evidence based conflict resolution workers can understand; strategies to manage issues and situations  Works within communities to eliminate that create conflict between management health disparities by advocating for access and the client. to health care and strong educational systems. VIII. Occupational and environmental health nurses (OHN) help advance the nursing profession and our specialty practice (1977, Revised 1991, 1996, 2004, 2009, through research and scholarly inquiry, and March 2016) professional standards development, and AAOHN Practice Committee the generation of nursing and health policy. As such OHNs:

 Collaborate with other occupational health and safety professionals to identify the most critical issues that affect the health and safety of workers, the work environment, and communities;  Conduct scientific research projects congruent with the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA);  Evaluate quality improvement projects to advance workplace health and safety;  Demonstrate ethical responsibility in the conduct of research and scholarly inquiry;  Contribute to best evidence in occupational health and safety through honest conduct, reporting, and dissemination of research reports, quality improvement projects, literature reviews, and theoretical discussions;  Collaborate with other occupational health and safety professionals to analyze critical issues in workplace health and safety and develop health policy to protect workers, the work environment, and the community.

IX. The occupational and environmental health nurse (OHN) collaborates with other health professionals and the public to protect human rights, promote health, and reduce health disparities. The OHN:

 Seeks to promote adequate distribution of occupational health and safety services