[Assessment of the Polish occupational medicine service (oms) system made by OMS nurses].

UNLABELLED

This paper presents the results of an assessment of the Polish occupational medicine service (OMS) system made by OMS nurses.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The survey was carried out on a random group of OMS nurses.

RESULTS

OMS nurses form a professional group comprised of rather experienced personnel. In the opinion of almost 70% of respondents the system guarantees good occupational heath care, whereas 20% took the opposite view. The great majority of respondents think that all employees have to undergo mandatory prophylactic examinations. The nurses have rather critical opinion about the legal regulations pertaining to occupational health care--their number and complexity, and also express negative opinion about the quality of cooperation with employers (who are contractors for OMS units). OMS nurses believe that prophylactic examinations are the strongest point of the system. They are often the only opportunity for establishing contact between an employee and a physician and learning about diseases he or she was previously unaware of.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the general assessment of the OMS system is rather positive, it is not free of shortcomings. Improvements in such fields as legislation, financing of service, professional attitude towards responsibilities of the OMS staff, cooperation with employers (contractors) and primary health care units would undoubtedly result in even better assessment, and what is more important in better functioning of the Polish OMS system.