The Faculty of Occupational Health Nursing (FOHN) has formally launched its occupational health nursing accreditation scheme.
The voluntary nursing accreditation scheme will enable OH nurses to use a new set of post-nominals: PFOHN, SFOHN or ASFOHN.
The scheme, first revealed by OHW+ in January, is designed to complement the existing NMC register.
The intention is to provide an enhanced career roadmap for OH nurses to become first a ‘Practitioner’, then ‘Specialist’ and then ‘Advanced Specialist’ of the faculty.
Christina Butterworth, chair of the FOHN accreditation board, said: “I believe that the accreditation scheme enhances the recognition of occupational health nurses; their knowledge, skills, experience and commitment to enhancing good health and wellbeing at work.”
OH nurses who become accredited will join FOHN as professional members and be placed on a directory of FOHN-accredited specialists in the UK.
The principles behind the scheme are for OH nurses to be able to show employers, prospective clients and their peers evidence of:
- Recognition of education, experience, and other attributes
- Competency linked to NMC post-registration standards
- Professional development
- Understanding and improvement of the interface between work and health.
To become accredited, nurses will have to show evidence of leadership and management, health risk management, fitness for work, and wellbeing.
This will be primarily through a self-assessment process, with nurses expected to grade themselves against competencies and present evidence to support that.
“To ensure an efficient and robust application process we will be accepting applications via six weekly cohorts. The sooner you apply the sooner you can get recognised,” Butterworth added.
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