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How to hire an occupational health nurse

Occupational health nurse hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring occupational health nurses in the United States:

  • HR departments typically spend 15% of their expenses on recruitment.
  • It usually takes about 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
  • It typically takes 36-42 days to fill a job opening.
  • The median cost to hire an occupational health nurse is $1,633.
  • Small businesses spend an average of $1,105 per occupational health nurse on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
  • There are currently 12,342 occupational health nurses in the US and 328,501 job openings.
  • Durham, NC, has the highest demand for occupational health nurses, with 8 job openings.
  • New York, NY has the highest concentration of occupational health nurses.

How to hire an occupational health nurse, step by step

To hire an occupational health nurse, you should clearly understand the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, and allocate a budget for the position. You will also need to post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire an occupational health nurse:

Here's a step-by-step occupational health nurse hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write an occupational health nurse job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new occupational health nurse
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an occupational health nurse do?

An Occupational Health Nurse provides and delivers health and safety programs and services to workers and community groups. They manage employee health records and statistics as well as develop and manage emergency procedures.

Learn more about the specifics of what an occupational health nurse does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    First, determine the employments status of the occupational health nurse you need to hire. Certain occupational health nurse roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    An occupational health nurse's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, occupational health nurses from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

    This list presents occupational health nurse salaries for various positions.

    Type of Occupational Health NurseDescriptionHourly rate
    Occupational Health NurseRegistered nurses (RNs) provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members.$23-44
    Nurse CoordinatorA nurse coordinator is primarily in charge of overseeing all nurses and their activities in a hospital or clinic. Their responsibilities include managing and rotating schedules, assessing nurse performance, organizing nursing programs, and developing strategies to optimize procedures... Show more$29-49
    Nurse ClinicianA nurse clinician is a health expert who provides care and assistance to patients in hospitals, clinics, or similar establishments. Among their responsibilities include preparing equipment and documents, administering medication, monitoring the patient's condition, maintaining charts, and regularly reporting to physicians... Show more$23-42
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Patients
    • OSHA
    • CPR
    • Patient Care
    • Spirometry
    • Health Promotion
    • Infection Control
    • Health Education
    • Triage
    • EKG
    • HIPAA
    • Physical Exams
    • Blood Pressure
    • Medical Care
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Participate in manage care activities to produce health change, specifically providing diabetes education and lifestyle counseling in chronic disease areas.
    • Facilitate rehabilitation of injure employees, utilizing case management to ensure coordination of care, FMLA and return-to-work program.
    • Provide emergency triage care as appropriate, dispense medications and treatments, and assist physicians with physical exams and/or psychiatric evaluations.
    • Exercise compassion and respect for all cultures.
    • Prepare for HIPAA and MI-OSHA reviews and audits.
    • Maintain and coordinate a and written a program.
    More occupational health nurse duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your occupational health nurse job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An occupational health nurse salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

    For example, the average salary for an occupational health nurse in Idaho may be lower than in California, and an entry-level occupational health nurse usually earns less than a senior-level occupational health nurse. Additionally, an occupational health nurse with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

    Average occupational health nurse salary

    $67,887yearly

    $32.64 hourly rate

    Entry-level occupational health nurse salary
    $49,000 yearly salary
    Updated January 21, 2026

    Average occupational health nurse salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1California$104,093$50
    2New York$94,385$45
    3Massachusetts$90,790$44
    4Maine$89,736$43
    5District of Columbia$87,205$42
    6Oregon$84,799$41
    7Pennsylvania$80,803$39
    8Washington$80,772$39
    9Michigan$80,141$39
    10Virginia$74,927$36
    11Maryland$71,382$34
    12Wisconsin$71,068$34
    13Illinois$68,471$33
    14West Virginia$66,654$32
    15Ohio$66,289$32
    16Texas$64,012$31
    17Colorado$63,199$30
    18Georgia$62,610$30
    19Florida$62,087$30
    20North Carolina$59,460$29

    Average occupational health nurse salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Apple$114,105$54.866
    2Dignity Health$103,162$49.60380
    3AdventHealth$92,858$44.64628
    4Pacifi$91,833$44.15
    5Bristol-Myers Squibb$87,459$42.0525
    6City of Los Angeles$86,021$41.364
    7Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego$84,638$40.694
    8Plug Power$84,143$40.452
    9Green Bay Packaging$83,637$40.21
    10Spectrum Healthcare Resources$83,248$40.0228
    11Genentech$83,017$39.911
    12Fairview Health Services$82,537$39.6862
    13LifePoint Health$82,090$39.47932
    14Universal Health Services$81,766$39.31662
    15Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute$81,740$39.3010
    16MaineGeneral Health$81,706$39.2822
    17HealthTrust$81,581$39.22711
    18Merck$81,416$39.141
    19JPMorgan Chase & Co.$80,375$38.647
    20Maxim Healthcare Group$79,569$38.251,675
  4. Writing an occupational health nurse job description

    A good occupational health nurse job description should include a few things:

    • Summary of the role
    • List of responsibilities
    • Required skills and experience

    Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of an occupational health nurse job description:

    Occupational health nurse job description example

    100% improvement. Make appropriate referrals. Work with contracted Medical Director and/or treating

    physicians on serious injuries and illnesses to ensure timely care and quick return to full duty.

    · Drive conservative care, to reduce impact of injury on business, while ensuring employee needs are met.

    · Manage required medical testing and surveillance programs including audiograms, drug testing, PAT, vision,

    etc.

    · Manage Early Intervention Program for MSD’s and strains/sprains, including contractor oversight to reduce

    office and industrial ergonomic risk, injuries and injury severity.

    · Lead wellness and community events such as quarterly blood drives, biometric screenings, health and

    wellness fairs, mobile mammograms, heart health evaluations, etc.

    · Maintain system for confidential medical records, including detailed clinic notes (Workplace Integra).

    · Provides essential support to the Company Environmental, Health & Safety Department.

    · Develop, execute and evaluate programs to monitor health such as wellness, cholesterol screening,

    vaccinations (flu, hepatitis), hypertension screening with follow-up counseling.

    · Lead a team of approximately 50 first responders, including coordinating annual training events and

    quarterly team meetings.

    · Manage Return to Work and Fitness for Duty programs. Including all aspects of pre-employment and return

    to work physical ability testing.

    · Lead and advise on pandemic situations to assist in development and establishment of protocols and

    protective measures to protect the business and the employees.

    · Ensure injuries/illnesses are reported according to OSHA regulations and maintains OSHA injury logs.

    · Serve as an Employee Assistance Program Coordinator, in cooperation with HR; assists employees

    concerning general health matters and/or emotional problems, and makes referral to designated EAP

    agency, as appropriate.

    · Conduct investigations of injuries, with a cross-functional team, and makes improvement recommendations,

    if necessary.

    · Serve as resource person and provide counseling to employees for personal medical issues, including

    emergency care for serious conditions and symptoms.

    · Evaluate and update written medical policies and protocols.

    · Manage procurement, calibration and repair of health and medical supplies and equipment (main plant and

    warehouse locations).

    · Research medications prescribed to employees to ensure the employee will not be impaired while working.

    · Provide medical advice to management.

    · Liaison with third party administrator for Worker’s Compensation. Attend WC hearing proceedings and

    provide depositions, as needed.

    · Responsible for overseeing budget for medical (creating purchase orders and authorization of payment of

    invoices) and operating supplies for company.

    · Conduct PIV (power industrial vehicles) medical surveillance exams testing and maintain documentation.

    · Manage daily operation of main plant medical clinic with weekly visits to warehouse clinic.

    · Manage company provided safety glasses and reimbursement programs.

    · Contingent labor medical liaison.


    Additional Requirements: · Registered Nurse with valid Georgia license required. · BSN and Certified Occupational Health Nurse preferred. · 5 years occupational health experience (Critical Care or ER experience preferred). · Certification in audiometric testing and drug testing collection required. BLS and AED trained. · Excellent nursing skills and knowledge with demonstrated proficiency in health assessment and nursing process. · Ability to trouble-shoot and handle atypical or unusual situations. · Experience with managing wellness programs. · Excellent organizational skills with multi-tasking. · Competent decision making ability. · Knowledge of Worker’s Compensation, OSHA and HIPPA regulations in general and construction industry and application of regulatory standards. · Knowledge and ability to make sound judgments independently regarding assessment and treatment of occupational injuries. · Ability to collaborate and communicate with employees, managers and functional teams. · Knowledge and experience in pre-placement and surveillance exams including audio, vision exams, drug testing, etc. · Ability to respond to emergency situations as primary emergency care giver, and relay life critical information to other health care professionals. · Ability to communicate both orally and in writing. · Must be willing to provide OHN support via phone during off hours to plant and warehouse operations as well as remote service locations. · Experience with Microsoft Office and occupational health software (i.e. Workplace Integra, Gensuite).

  5. Post your job

    There are a few common ways to find occupational health nurses for your business:

    • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
    • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
    • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.
    To find occupational health nurse candidates, you can consider the following options:
    • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
    • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
    • Post your job on free job posting websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    Recruiting occupational health nurses requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

    It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new occupational health nurse

    Once you've decided on a perfect occupational health nurse candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

    It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

    To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire an occupational health nurse?

Recruiting occupational health nurses involves both the one-time costs of hiring and the ongoing costs of adding a new employee to your team. Your spending during the hiring process will mostly be on things like promoting the job on job boards, reviewing and interviewing candidates, and onboarding the new hire. Ongoing costs will obviously involve the employee's salary, but also may include things like benefits.

You can expect to pay around $67,887 per year for an occupational health nurse, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for occupational health nurses in the US typically range between $23 and $44 an hour.

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