The Occupational and Environmental Medicine Fundamentals for Advanced Practice Providers Program was developed as a collaborative education activity by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) NP Section. This program was developed to supplement on-the-job training and provides advanced practice providers online access to a convenient, comprehensive, foundational OEM learning program. It offers employers of new advance practice providers an onboarding opportunity to provide structured, high quality, evidenced based educational OEM material in a virtual format available in one convenient location. Presented by AANP and ACOEM experts in the field, these modules will advance knowledge that can be useful in many settings, including urgent care, primary care, industry-based clinics, employee health, corporate health and more. By completing this foundational OEM program, NPs and other clinicians can increase their understanding of OEM’s many facets, improve their clinical skills and more fully develop the leadership abilities needed to manage the care of the worker.  

The program consists of seven modules, each dealing with a different aspect of occupational health practice for the advanced practice provider. Each module includes between four and six one-hour presentations and support material on essential OEM topics. Upon completion of all seven modules and the full 30 hours of credit, participants will be eligible to receive an AANP Certificate of Advanced Practice Education in Occupational Health. The certificate of academic achievement demonstrates to employers, workers, and peers their commitment as a provider in the OEM field. 

The seven modules, their expected launch dates, amount of CE/CME and cost are included below:

PLEASE NOTE: Completion of this program results in an AANP Certificate of Advanced Practice Education in Occupational Health. It is not a board certification, nor does it grant the ability to sit for a board certification exam. It also does not result in a credential. It was developed with the expressed purpose of providing structured educational OEM material in a virtual format available in one convenient place.  

Release Date: 03/15/2023
Expiration Date: 03/14/2025 (This course may be reviewed and renewed after 03/14/2025)

Section 1

A Culture of Safety: The Physical Examination, Post-Offer NOT Pre-Employment

Dr. Kerri L. Rupe ARNP, FNP-C, DNP, FAANP
*Nothing to disclose

Work is important to humans. Our identity, social relationships, and value to society are related to making a living. Every person should go to work and expect to safely return home. This requires a culture of safety within the workplace. Safety becomes the expectation. Personal protective equipment is the uniform of everyday life. Worker's safety is everyone’s business and responsibility. A culture of safety includes putting the right worker in the right job. The post-job offer employee physical examination should be conducted with that objective in mind. What the job involves and what skills are needed to perform it without injury are essential to the post-offer examination. The more information the healthcare provider (HCP) has about the job, the better the employee can fit the job. This presentation explores the physical examination, the rules and regulations surrounding it. The privacy of health information and the balance of public safety with the employees right to work is also addressed.

Objectives:

• Describe the characteristics of a culture of safety. 
• Explain the importance of post-offer physical assessment and evaluations based on job functions. 
• List recommended evaluations that may be included in a comprehensive post-offer physical assessment based on the job description.  
• Highlight rules and regulations relevant to post-offer physical examinations within a culture of safety and health. 
• Discuss the documentation requirements associated with post-offer physical examinations including what information can be released to the employer without a written release from the applicant. 

Section 2

Work Restrictions

Arlene Guzik, DNP, APRN-C  
*Nothing to disclose

The medical provider’s ability to assign injury-specific work restrictions is a valued skill by most employers and workers’ compensation claims adjusters. Since research and experience tells us that injured workers who remain geographically and socially connected to the workplace have better clinical outcomes (Christian, 2006), a medical provider’s mission to support the stay –at-work/return-to-work concept is built on three principles: 1) Functional capacity - asking “what can the injured worker do today?”;  2) Functional limitations – asking “what can’t the injured worker do now that they would normally do?”; and 3) Assignment of medically appropriate restrictions – asking “what should the injured worker not do to avoid exacerbation or aggravation of symptoms?” (Guzik, 2013). This presentation covers the principle of assigning appropriate work restrictions that promote recovery, while maintaining the injured worker’s productivity on the job. 

Objectives:

• List the relevant regulatory statutes related to workers’ compensation care.
• Define the importance of assigning realistic and relevant work restrictions for workers.
• Discuss the provider’s responsibility of medical decision-making regarding workers’ compensation case management. 
• Explain the value of the use of the medical decision making process using objective, relevant evidence.

Section 3

Return to Work

Wendy Paracka, DNP, APRN, NP-C, FAANP
*Nothing to disclose

This program will focus on the injured or ill worker, the process of returning that individual to work, and accommodations that may need to be implemented. Areas of focus include Workers’ Compensation, the Family Medical Leave Act, and the American Disabilities Act, as well as other agencies that provide resources for the employee, the employer, and the provider. To aid the health care professional with the return-to-work process, general accommodations for disabilities, injuries, and illnesses are discussed with a case study format.

Objectives:

• Identify the role of the healthcare provider.
• List the benefits to the employee in graduated return to work.
• Discuss the implications of the FMLA.
• Discuss the psychosocial impact for the injured or ill worker and RTW.

Section 4

Workers Compensation

Jean Aertker, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP
*Nothing to disclose

This course provides clinicians an overview of the basic concepts of the workers' compensation system, tracing the early history from 2050 B.C. thru the evolution and enactment of our current federal and state Workers Compensation laws. The bigger picture is discussed to help understand the complexity of this insurance policy coverage that provides benefits for workplace injury or illness directly if related to the job. Comparison of the federal and state worker compensation Acts includes the differences in reporting procedures, the myriad of required clinician generated forms and clinical decision-making process for each encounter. Emphasis is on the oversight with case management teams that leads to an outcome of Maximal Medical Improvement (MMI), or the determination of a temporary or permanent disability rating.

Objectives:

• Provide an overview of Workers Compensation Insurance.
• Compare and Contrast the FECA ACT to State Workers Compensation programs.
• Discuss critical clinical aspects of Workers Compensation health care and how care is delivered.
• Examine the programs and roles contributing to effective Workers Compensation management.

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of 4.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

If you would like to claim credit through the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), please print your certificate and submit it to AANP at cecenter@aanp.org.

Individuals who have contributed to this course were carefully selected for their knowledge and experience in the subject area presented. This presentation is informational only and may contain opinions of the authors from their personal experience that do not necessarily express the opinions of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM). The activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings. Clinical practice is a constantly changing process and new information becomes available every day. Neither ACOEM nor the contributing individuals can warrant that the material will continue to be accurate, nor do they warrant that the material is completely free of errors upon publication. Attendees and participants should appraise the information presented critically and are encouraged to consult appropriate resources for any product or device mentioned in this program.

The activity is available on-demand, and those who register will receive access automatically. Please be sure that this is the course you wish to purchase as refunds are not permitted after the transaction is complete. Once the purchase has been completed you will be granted access to the online/on-demand activity. If this purchase was made in error, do not access the course. Refund requests must be received in writing within 24 hours of the purchase to educationinfo@acoem.org. Refunds will be issued for duplicate purchases if no progress has been made in the course and will be issued minus an administrative fee of $100.00. Refunds will not be provided for courses that have been accessed and/or started.