The University of Maryland School of Nursing's first Center of Excellence, the Work and Health Research Center (WHRC), was established in 2005 to provide a forum for multidisciplinary faculty and students conducting research focused on the health and safety of working populations. The center's overarching research theme is “organization of work” and its impact on health and safety, with a focus on health and service sector workers.
The WHRC is dedicated to improving health through research, education, advocacy, and practice directed at the prevention of occupational causes of illnesses and injuries. A critical component of the center's research is its focus on understudied and underserved workers and communities and its partnerships with organizations and individuals who represent these workers. Research expertise includes: psychosocial work environment, occupational health and safety hazards in health care, community-based participatory research, multilevel analysis of work organization, and epidemiology.
