The role of the occupational nurse has moved from mainly clinical duties to involve more on-the-job training and risk management. By Mardi Chapman

Occupational health nurses might have to wear high-visibility vests on the job but their size and prominence as a nursing speciality is fast-diminishing. Specialist occupational health nurses were the mainstay of occupational health from the late 1970s to the '90s, but in recent years their numbers have declined and the nurses' role has taken on a more generalist Occupational Health and Safety function. The specialty's professional body, the Australian College of Occupational Health Nurses (ACOHN) effectively disappeared when it was absorbed into the Australian and New Zealand Society of...