Niko Laaksonen from Terveystalo named Occupational Health Nurse of the Future 2025

Niko Laaksonen started working as an occupational health nurse at Terveystalo in December 2020 and qualified as an occupational health care specialist in 2022. According to his colleagues and superiors, he is a determined, analytical, and courageous professional who combines traditional occupational health care expertise with new innovations and digital solutions.

– When we drafted an informal proposal and justification for choosing Nikko in the spring, there was no end to the stories. I am really happy that this year's award went to Niko, who has stepped into bigger shoes in our work community over the past year and been able to show off all her skills by taking on the coordination of our large local occupational health care customer, the city of Oulu, says supervisor Asta Hannus.

Anna-Kaisa Puusaari, Occupational Well-being Manager at the City of Oulu, also believes that Niko is the perfect choice for a future occupational health nurse.

– Congratulations, Niko! We are very pleased with our collaboration with Niko. A coordinating occupational health nurse acts as a guardian in a large organization, ensuring that things run smoothly, as agreed, and consistently across the board. We can rely on Niko's strong professional skills, service-mindedness, and solution-oriented approach. We are particularly pleased with his open-mindedness and flexible approach to work. There is also room for humor in our cooperation, and things run smoothly. He also focuses on the right things from the customer's point of view: prevention, well-being, and support for work ability.

– The work of an occupational health nurse is often lonely, but the support of colleagues is always close at hand. We have a wonderful work community where we value each other and have also learned to better recognize the good and give positive feedback and praise to each other, Laaksonen describes.

In the work community, Niko is known as a skilled and talented professional with a special ability to see the big picture. He approaches problems with logical creativity, and this analytical and open-minded way of looking at the world, customers, and the environment is a special skill in these complex times. In his work, he combines traditional occupational health care expertise with new innovations in an open-minded way, whether it's using digital tools, multi-professional collaboration, or creative solutions to the changing challenges of working life.

– Niko is truly the occupational health nurse of the future. I am particularly delighted and even amazed by Niko's brilliant ability to analyze things from multiple perspectives and reflect on them. Niko has a great ability to engage in good dialogue and refine his own observations and views as the dialogue progresses, summarizes Hanna Koivunen, Director of Occupational Health Services.

Niko has a strong desire to develop himself and reform occupational health care. According to his supervisor Asta, Niko is an excellent representative of the future and is at the forefront of developing occupational health care, where prevention, well-being, and supporting work ability are becoming increasingly important. In addition to his work, Niko is also updating his skills by studying for a higher polytechnic degree in well-being coordination at Savonia University of Applied Sciences.

– For me, further studies offer new perspectives on the development of occupational health care, work ability support, and management. I always want to do my job well and to a high standard – learning something new every day. I am inspired when we can move from words to action with the customer and see concrete effects on well-being at work, says Laaksonen.

As an occupational health nurse, Niko not only improves the quality of life of employees, but also builds healthier, more productive, more sustainable, and happier work communities. New, promising occupational health nurses of the future are leading us towards a time when occupational health care will be more accessible and effective than ever before.