7 Key Occupational Health Nurse Interview Questions to Ask

Occupational health nurses (OHN) promote the wellbeing and safety of the healthcare workforce. These specialized nurses collaborate with safety officers, human resources departments, and company leadership to not only prevent illness and injury, but also provide interventions and documentation when a workplace incident occurs. In this article, we’ll cover seven essential occupational health nurse interview questions that can help you find an excellent nurse for your organization.

We’ll also give you insights about what to listen for in a candidate’s responses, as well as follow-up questions you could use to glean even more information about the nurse’s competency. In the link below, we’ve provided a printable occupational health nurse evaluation form to help you stay organized throughout the interview process.

Preparing to Interview an Occupational Health Nurse

As you prepare to interview for the OHN position, be sure to look at your company’s occupational health nurse job description so that you’re aware of the specific duties this nurse will be performing. The daily tasks and responsibilities vary significantly depending on the organization, but may include:

• Case management.
• Workplace injury prevention.
• Safety protocol development and implementation.
• Employee health education.
• Ergonomic assessments.
• Return-to-work program oversight.
• Employee wellness program oversight.
• Documentation of workplace illnesses and injuries.

In addition, take a look at other nurse job postings to gain a better understanding of the current job market and how competitors are approaching the OHN recruitment process.

7 Essential Occupational Health Nursing Interview Questions

Once you’ve posted your job and have an ample applicant pool, you’ll begin the interview process. Here are seven occupational health nurse interview questions (and answers to look for) that apply to various clinical or nonclinical settings and address typical responsibilities of the role.

You may want to further customize these questions according to the specific OHN duties within your agency, particularly those related to challenges. For example, if the OHN position requires exposure to a potentially dangerous work environment or physically demanding tasks, you’ll need to discuss these challenges with your candidate. This will ensure that you hire a nurse who is not only qualified, but also a great fit for your agency.

1. What makes you want to work as an occupational health nurse at our organization?

This occupational nurse interview question will help you assess the nurse candidate’s interest in protecting the health and safety of your workforce. It will also give you information about their level of understanding regarding your industry and company culture. Asking a relatively easy and conversational question like this early in the interview gives the candidate a chance to warm up before tackling more technical and challenging topics.

What to listen for:

• Specialization in workplace wellness and hazard mitigation, and a desire to bring relevant expertise to your organization’s workforce
• Awareness of your organization’s values, mission, and relevant working conditions

Potential follow up questions:

• What motivated you to become an occupational health nurse?
• What unique qualities would you bring to our team that would contribute to the wellness and safety of our workforce?

2. What is your approach to developing positive rapport with personnel so that you can deliver effective health interventions?

Occupational health nurses often have to provide coaching and training to employees who are dealing with health issues. They might help employees who are coping with chronic health conditions, returning to work after an injury, or trying to achieve wellness goals.

Investigate how the nurse uses soft nursing skills to deliver effective, patient-centered interventions that will promote health at your company. Even if this role at your facility will focus on administrative duties, it’s important to include occupational health nurse interview questions about direct patient care.

What to listen for:

• Experience providing effective wellness counseling for employees who are struggling with health issues
• Knowledge of therapeutic communication techniques such as active listening and empathy

Potential follow up questions:

• What is your typical process when engaging with an employee who is ill or injured?
• Tell me about your experience responding to workplace health emergencies.

3. Tell me about a time when you faced a language barrier during a worker’s assessment. How did you overcome it?

One of the biggest challenges that all healthcare workers face is communication gaps that can lead to medical errors, delayed care, and poor outcomes. Assess the candidate’s ability to conduct accurate assessments despite communication challenges.

Because workplaces in the U.S. are increasingly multicultural, cultural barriers are also common. Interview questions for occupational nurses at agencies with high levels of diversity should address the candidate’s skill level in this area.

What to listen for:

• Ability to deliver culturally competent occupational health services
• Candidate shows initiative and can identify available resources, such as medical translation services

Potential follow up questions:

• What is your experience working with culturally diverse patient populations?
• What is one way that you modify your occupational health education initiatives when a language barrier is present?

4. How would you use problem-solving skills to protect employees from a workplace hazard?

Finding an OHN who is capable of truly impacting the health of your employees may save your organization money. A skilled OHN may implement safety policies that improve worker satisfaction, reduce turnover rates, minimize disability claims, and lower worker compensation costs. This question, and other industrial nurse interview questions about injury prevention, will give you insight into how the candidate could affect your company’s financial bottom line.

What to listen for:

• Ability to assess workplace hazards using evidence-based practices such as data collection and medical record audits
• Competency in finding solutions to workplace hazards

Potential follow up questions:

• What are the steps you take to conduct a risk assessment at a new work environment?
• Do you have experience performing ergonomic assessments?

5. How do you protect the confidentiality of medical information during your work process?

The OHN at your facility will have access to worker health information, and must know how to handle it properly. They should be familiar with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), a federal law that sets standards about how to keep patients’ health information confidential.

Information management is a vital part of occupational health nursing. Interview questions like this one will help to ensure you hire a nurse who can handle their record keeping duties without putting your workforce’s personal health information at risk.

What to listen for:

• An understanding of the importance of keeping medical information confidential by restricting access and using HIPPA-informed discernment about sharing
• Familiarity with HIPPA best practices, such as secure data storage

Potential follow up questions:

• What is your experience with HIPPA regulations?
• What is your process for deciding whether to share a worker’s medical information with another individual?

6. Describe a workplace safety training that you implemented. What was the outcome?

An important aspect of the OHN’s job is taking action to reduce workplace illness and injury. Dig into the candidate’s experience by asking occupational health nursing interview questions about specific training initiatives. This will give your candidate a chance to highlight an achievement they’ve had in the past.

What to listen for:

• Successful safety training programs at prior jobs
• Confidence regarding training capabilities

Potential follow up questions:

• Tell me about your process for deciding on health and safety topics for employees.
• Have you ever significantly decreased the rate of work-related illness or injury at an organization where you were serving as the OHN?

7. How do you stay current on federal and state workplace safety regulations, as well as industry-specific health policies?

Occupational health nurses are often responsible for ensuring that organizations are compliant with relevant laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. The nurse you hire for the role should know how to stay current on federal, state, and local laws and regulations, which will help your company mitigate legal risks.

What to listen for:

• Ability to research new and emerging standards
• Detail-oriented in their approach to gathering and processing information about health compliance issues

Potential follow up questions:

• Have you ever contributed to the development of health and wellness policies for an organization?
• How do you collaborate with colleagues to address occupational health compliance issues?

Connect With Qualified Applicants Today

Asking insightful occupational health nurse interview questions is an important part of the hiring process, but it can be difficult to find a pool of qualified candidates. Take your recruiting efforts up a notch by connecting with our network of over 1 million nursing professionals looking to join a team like yours.