title: Occupational health nursing in Canada: its social foundation and future.
abstract: Our purpose in examining the social foundation of occupational health nursing is to better determine the future direction of the profession and its impact on a diverse workforce. Part of what makes up the profession of occupational health nursing is found in its definition: a process that is determined by the interaction between the occupational health nurse, worker, work and workplace; its goal is to assist the worker to achieve his or her optimal level of functioning, primarily through health education, health promotion, prevention of disease and injury and crisis intervention. Much of occupational health nursing is also based on its history and the traditions that have been established. A true understanding, then, of what occupational health nursing's future can be comes from a solid understanding of the history of the profession. As social trends in the past affected the profession, so will they in the future.
authors.affiliation: Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stovin
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D009785:Occupational Health Nursing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D012922:Social Change