Abstract
Part I of this article describes a quantitative assessment model that was developed to provide useful information to a large corporation about the benefits and costs of an on-site occupational health nursing program. The large number and complex nature of the effects of such programs both complicate this task and restrict the comprehensiveness of its assessment.
Part I focuses on estimating the net cost savings arising from the direct substitution of on-site for off-site provided occupational health nursing services. The six factors comprising this assessment model are identified. How these quantitative factors might be estimated in practical applications of this model is discussed, and cost effective approaches to this estimation task are suggested. The on-site provision of occupational health nursing services clearly continues to be an issue of interest to large corporations concerned with cost containment, productivity, and good employee relations. The model described in this article is restricted to measurable, short term benefits. However, the careful measurement of these benefits and costs can usefully inform management decision making until more comprehensive, longer term assessment models can be empirically implemented.