Occupational health nurses advise working people and organisations of the impact of work on health and wellbeing.
You will usually need to be a registered adult, child, learning disability or mental health nurse to apply for occupational health posts. Applying for a job within a large occupational health service should help you gain adequate supervision and support. This is especially important for a first job in an occupational health.
Most jobs in the NHS are covered by the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay scales. This pay system covers all staff except doctors, dentists and the most senior managers. Occupational nurses in the NHS will usually start at band 5 and work standard hours of 37.5 per week. Many jobs in occupational health nursing will be outside of the NHS where terms and conditions can vary.
You have to be highly organised, flexible and able to prioritise effectively. An occupational health nurse is also highly observant, able to assess patients and take responsibility for determining the best course of action for them.
After qualifying and gaining some experience, there are a variety of routes you could take as the next step in your career. With experience you could progress to a senior nursing adviser within an occupational nursing department. You may also choose to qualify as a specialist community public health nurse (SCPHN).
Related roles
- Health visitor [2]
- School nurse [3]
- Occupational medicine [4]
- Midwife [5]
Doctors in rehabilitation medicine assess and treat patients with complex disabling conditions.
Training usually starts with a five year first degree in medicine. 2 year foundation doctor training, 2 year core medical training and 4 year specialist training (ST3-6). This period of training will include your royal college exams. Length of training can vary according to your circumstances.
Doctors may work up to 48 hours a week. The working hours may sometimes extend beyond the normal working day to include early mornings, evenings and weekends. You’ll first earn a salary when you start your foundation training after medical school. The basic salary ranges from £29,384 to £34,012. Once you start your specialty training as a rehabilitation doctor employed by the NHS, you can expect to earn a salary of at least £40,257, which can increase to between £84,559 and £114,003 as a consultant.
You'll need excellent communication skills to manage a wide range of relationships with colleagues, and patients and their families. You'll be emotionally resilient, have excellent problem-solving and diagnostic skills and work well in teams and under pressure. You'll also be very organised for the benefit of patients.
In 2021, there were 159 consultants in rehabilitation medicine in the NHS in England. In addition, there were 42 applications for 14 training places. You could get involved in research, teach medical students or postgraduate students in training or develop medico-legal or private clinical practice.
Related roles
- Geriatric medicine [7]
- Neurologist [8]
- Acute internal medicine [9]
- General practitioner [10]