The Role Of The Nurse Practitioner In Workplace Health

Recognizing Maureen Keenan’s deep expertise as a Wellness Nurse Practitioner at Ramp Health, this exclusive feature explores the critical role of Nurse Practitioners in workplace wellness, highlighting the power of preventive care, chronic disease risk reduction and team-based strategies to drive better health outcomes for employees and employers alike.

Empowering people to improve their health and live healthier lifestyles are my goals as a Nurse Practitioner. In my position as a Wellness Nurse Practitioner with Ramp Health, I work with a multidisciplinary team to achieve those goals. By partnering with employers, Ramp provides biometric screening for employees, proactively identifying potential health issues that may otherwise be overlooked. As the Nurse Practitioner, I then meet individually with those employees to review their results, educate them about their health status, work collaboratively to identify their personal health goals, and mutually develop a plan for meeting those goals. By utilizing a team approach in conjunction with Ramp’s Health Coaches, Registered Dieticians, Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (CDCES), the employee’s primary care provider (PCP), and the empIoyer, I can offer ongoing support during the employee’s journey to better health.

The Workplace as a Hub for Preventive Health

In our current economy, the cost of health care and health insurance premiums are key priorities for both employers and employees. The National Annual Health Care cost in the United States is calculated to be 4.5 trillion dollars, with 90 percent of that attributed to care of chronic diseases, including mental health. According to CDC data, 60 percent of Americans have at least one chronic disease and 40 percent are affected by multiple, simultaneous chronic illnesses. Given that 1/3 of the average employee’s waking hours are spent at work, the workplace becomes an excellent location to provide programs aimed at health promotion and chronic disease risk mitigation.

The benefits of Workplace Wellness programs for both employees and their employers are supported in the research both medically and financially. For the employee, Ramp Health’s programs lead to better health outcomes, improved morale and employee engagement, and increased performance and financial stability. For our employers, Wellness Programming can lead to improved recruitment and retention of valuable employees, decreased absenteeism leading to increased productivity and profit and lowered insurance dollars spent. Good health is more than just an absence of symptoms. The environmental theory, Social Determinants of Health, postulates that a person’s work environment, education, financial stability and access to health care act in concert to affect one’s health. Nurse Practitioners are educated under the Nursing Model to provide holistic, patient-centered care, uniquely qualifying them in the field of Workplace Wellness.

Empowering Employees Through On-Site Support and Team-Based Care

Risk identification and mitigation for chronic illness is a key aim of Ramp Health’s Programs. Most chronic disease can be attributed to smoking, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol use. By identifying and directly addressing these risk factors and incorporating research-based care, the Workplace Wellness Nurse Practitioner can lower employees’ risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, liver disease, COPD, musculoskeletal and workplace injuries and chronic pain. Some examples of programming include smoking cessation education, weight loss and nutrition support, exercise focus such as walking groups and targeted stretching and mental health support activities focused on mindfulness, stress reduction, and substance abuse. As on-site clinicians, Nurse Practitioners can make preventative care such as screenings and vaccinations more convenient, thus increasing utilization. The Nurse Practitioner can provide immediate access to on-site medical care for illnesses and injuries decreasing the need for employees to leave the workplace for care. The Nurse Practitioner may also serve as a liaison between the employee and the outside health care system, community health offerings, and specialists. This partnership prevents gaps in care resulting in much better health outcomes for both the employee and the employer.

Focus on the whole person makes both the Wellness Nurse Practitioner and Ramp Health’s programs more successful in assessing and addressing worker risks of illness both in and out of work. Recognizing that the individual’s health care journey is a marathon, not a sprint and providing ongoing support through a multidisciplinary approach is the key to impactful outcomes for our participants. Ramp Health’s incorporation of digital media for data collection and analysis supports my practice through continuous quality improvement of programming and provides key long term cost savings analysis for our employer partners. With Ramp’s support of my role as a Wellness Nurse Practitioner, I am better able to effect positive health gains for my employee population by early detection of risks for chronic illness, partnering with participants to develop health goals and a plan to meet them, and by supporting their journey every step of the way using a team approach to ensure success.