[A survey of public health nurses regarding their awareness of the abilities, skill and knowledge necessary to fulfill an occupational health nurse's role, and proposal of a new curriculum for occupational nurse specialists at the master level].

The areas of conduct and professional roles in occupational health nursing in Japan has not been defined as yet, even though occupational health nurses have contributed to implementing jobs related to the health examination in workplaces every year. We surveyed public health nurses regarding their awareness of the abilities, skills and knowledge necessary to fulfill an occupational health nurses' role. When answering, they became aware of deficiencies in their abilities, skills and knowledge. This was particularly true in counseling, health assessment skills and management abilities, specialized knowledge of occupational safety and health, ergonomics and environmental health. We propose a curriculum at the master level for occupational health nurse specialists with reference to the core curriculum for occupational and environmental health nursing in the USA.