Abstract
The author assumed responsibility or an ongoing factory health maintenance program which consisted primarily of periodic blood and urine sampling and analysis. To supplement the limited information obtained from these laboratory analyses, the author began gathering personal health history information from each worker through a standardized questionnaire. It was during the review of one completed questionnaires that one need for a description of the workforce as a group became evident. To do this, a new approach — one different from the traditional nursing approach of individualized assessment — was tried.
An epidemiological study was deigned which yielded information on the demographic profile of the workforce, as well as the relationships between three agents of exposure (chemicals, ethanol, and cigarettes) and laboratory parameters.
The procurement of this data proved to be of value in several ways: One identification of high risk groups or particular diseases, the assessment of existing and future health problems, and in the planning for the health care of the group.
The increased value of the data obtained by utilization of the epidemiological method allows the occupational health nurse in the workplace setting to improve the delivery of health services to those under her care.