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: 10/17/2023
Expiration Date: 10/17/2025 (This course may be reviewed and renewed after 01/31/2025)

Section 1

Total Worker Health® - A New Look at the Safety, Health, and Well-being of Workers

L. Casey Chosewood, MD, MPH
*Nothing to disclose

Dr. Chosewood is an employee of the US Federal Government: Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

This presentation provides an overview of the NIOSH Total Worker Health®, defining it and giving useful examples of its application for common worker challenges. This expanded approach to the health and well-being of workers provides new strategies for optimizing safety, growing worker engagement, and increasing meaningful work. The course also defines the role of the occupational health nurse practitioner in implementing Total Worker Health strategies and programs for workers, and advances evidence-based health protection and health promotion interventions, including clinical and work-based programs, policies and practices to positively impact population health in the workplace. The presentation also covers the use of surveys, record-keeping systems, health metrics, worker well-being measures as part of a TWH program.

Objectives:

• Define the role of the occupational health nurse practitioner in implementing Total Worker Health strategies and programs for workers.
• Advance evidence-based health protection and health promotion interventions, including clinical and work-based programs, policies and practices to positively impact population health and safety in the workplace.
• Structure record-keeping systems to track health metrics, other worker well-being measures, and the value of/return on investment.

Section 2

Healthcare and Violence - What Do You Need to Know?

Michael J. Hodgson, MD, MPH
*Nothing to disclose

In this section, Dr. Hodgson will present an overview of workplace violence in healthcare.  He will discuss critical knowledge for self-protection, describe necessary elements for programs, and provide guidance on The Joint Commission requirements for evaluation of programs.

Objectives:

• Evaluate whether your home institution has resources necessary to keep providers safe.
• Understand components of a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program.
• Able to use a checklist developed by The Joint Commission to evaluate own system.

Section 3

The Impaired Employee

Karl Auerbach MD, MS, MBA, FACOEM
*Nothing to disclose

In this session we will discuss some of the factors that enter into recognizing and dealing with impairments of various kinds that present in the workplace.  Impairment takes many forms including physical, mental and emotional as well as impairment due to drugs.  The session will give an overview of how these impairments impact workers and how to deal with them.

Objectives:

• Understand what impairment is and what contributes to impairment.
• Developing a drug-free policy and implementing the program.
• Understand the steps necessary to Identify, monitor, manage, educate, or refer employees in mental health crisis or with potential substance abuse issues.
• Recognize the legal requirements of drug testing.
• Future of workplace drug testing.

Section 4

Causation Determination and Impairment Evaluations in Occupational Medicine

Sajjad A. Savul, MD, MS, FACOEM
*Nothing to disclose

Causation Determination is one of the cornerstones of assessing and managing work -related injuries and other conditions. Occupational Medicine clinicians are often asked for their opinion on work-relatedness.  Such determination is not only important to evaluate an injured worker but may also be beneficial for other workers who may be similarly exposed to a hazard or situation. Several relevant guidelines (NIOSH, ACOEM) and regulations (OSHA, State) are available for occupational medicine clinicians to help determine causation. The first half of this presentation will review several aspects of causation determination.

In the second half, we will familiarize ourselves with the process of Impairment Ratings. The AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment is generally considered the Standard in impairment evaluation. Ratings are used in workers' compensation systems, federal systems, automobile casualty and personal injury cases. Key differences between impairment & disability, aggravation & exacerbation, and apportionment, will be addressed. Even though many occupational medicine providers are not specifically asked for impairment ratings, understanding the basic concepts in impairment methodology would help us clinicians in the overall workers’ compensation care.

Objectives:

• Learn how to determine work causation in occupational injury or illness.
• Familiarize with ACOEM guidelines on workers' compensation.
• Review some of the state and other regulatory guidance on causation in workers compensation. 

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.