Our Experience with the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments By Gabrielle Diaz , Kateri I . Dir-Muñoz , Lois Ezebuiro , Elizabeth Hansel , Lori Herrick , and Maria San Emeterio
The 2021 Student Nurse Committee of the Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment ( ANHE ) included 14 students from around the world . Each member joined the committee with his / her unique background and diverse experiences ; we all had one thing in common — a passion for the environment . As a committee , we were able to explore our passion , grow leadership skills , and develop a project that focused on environmental health . Our committee decided that sharing our passion for the health of people and our environment plays a significant part in our professional identity as nurses . Together , we assessed the current state of our nursing programs , collected feedback on what staff and students found relevant , and used communication skills and networking to develop our final project .
Our student committee discussed multiple project ideas , such as medical waste mitigation , environmental hazards , and the development of screening tools . However , we landed on creating a Call to Action for students to request that environmental health to be added to their nursing programs . We chose this project because of the ongoing relevance and importance of climate health in our world . While our committee is made up of students from nursing programs around the world , only two of us had a climate and health course in our nursing school curricula . We know that one of the most effective ways to create change is through education ; this is especially true in nursing school as students are exposed to a wide range of topics and interests applicable to the profession .
Climate health is rapidly becoming a major detriment to human health . With rising temperatures across the globe , we experience glacial ice melts causing sea level to rise ; we also encounter extreme weather events , such as floods and droughts . Clearly , climate change is threatening human health . Yet , this is merely the tip of the climate change iceberg .
Recent reports attest to the increasing occurrence of extreme weather conditions where blizzards have caused power outages for prolonged periods . This has telling consequences on the access to and delivery of health care . The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change Report postulates that , as exposure to extreme weather conditions increases because of climate change , there will be a corresponding increase in the “ potentially catastrophic risk ” to human health , which can nullify 50 years of global health gain ( Romanello , 2021 ).
Another study projects that mega heat wave occurrences are likely to rise by a factor of 5 to 10 in Europe ( Schiermeier , 2019 ). Further , occupational hazards especially cardiac illnesses among construction workers and farmers are projected to increase . Beyond the heat waves is the increasing production of pollen grains triggering allergic reactions in susceptible people and global desertification which encourages the growth of disease-causing bacteria . The ripple effect of climate change on human health is evident , yet the integration of this content in nursing curricula is sparse , hence the project choice of the ANHE Student Nurse Committee .
The effects of climate change are increasingly seen in the lives and health of our patients and work environments . To address these problems , nurses must be prepared to handle these challenges and
17