Abstract
The purposes of this study is to clarify the roles of occupational health nurses in order to support the return to work of workers following a leave of absence due to poor mental health, and modalities of cooperation between resources both within and outside the workplace. Date was collected regarding the necessity of supporting the return to work of those with cases of poor mental health, and modalities of cooperation from semi-structured interviews of occupational health nurses in Prefecture M, after which a qualitative inductive analysis was performed. As a result of this analysis, it was concluded that cooperation supporting workers return to work following a leave of absence due to poor mental health involves relevant individuals and agencies each playing a particular role to meet the needs of individuals who wish to return to work. These roles were revealed to be the following close supporters who assist the individual, those connected with community professionals and specialized agencies, attending psychiatrists to provide suitable treatment, a support system providing mental health measures within the workplace, and Occupational health nurses who accurately identify those in need of support and provide ongoing support. Occupational health nurses who accurately identify those in need of support and provide ongoing support should be capable of discerning the individual's condition and characteristic traits and maintain professional relationships to facilitate the proper advice and instructions needed to deliver support to meet the needs of individuals returning to work. The study findings suggested that it is necessary to hold a clearly-established legal status as occupational health nurses in the future to take on such roles.
