The Role of Nursing in Climate Change and Public Health

Since 1981, the Earth’s temperature has risen 0.32°F each decade. This warming trend represents a significant amount of accumulated heat since the oceans have a tremendous capacity to absorb and disperse heat.

These climate changes have resulted in temperature extremes, heavy rainfall in some areas and drought in others, changing habitats, and rising temperatures at the polar ice caps. In turn, the environmental challenges have resulted in public health problems that impact nurses and their patients.

Our nurse contributors answered questions about how climate change has impacted nursing care and public health. Explore how nurses can get involved to protect patient care and public policy.

Patrice K. Nicholas, DNSc, is the director of the Center for Climate Change, Climate Justice, and Health at the MGH Institute of Health Professions and codirector for Policy and Advocacy at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for the Environment and Health.

She knows that the adverse effects of climate change are critical to patients, families, communities, and populations. While they impact all individuals, they are particularly important to the elderly, pregnant individuals, and pediatric populations. One of the effects of climate change is an increase in natural disasters and extreme weather events.

These can disrupt the delivery of healthcare and require the evacuation of patients. It can also cause the displacement of healthcare providers. In addition to making it more difficult for people to access medical care, it also places additional stress on healthcare workers.

“As the largest group of health professionals worldwide, the nursing profession has a key responsibility in assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation regarding impacts on health in a climate-changing world,” she says.

With higher ambient heat, Nicholas notes that nurses must assess all populations for heat-related illnesses, particularly those who are most vulnerable. Poor air quality requires an in-depth assessment of adults and children with asthma and other chronic health issues who may experience heart and respiratory exacerbations when exposed to poor-quality air.

“In addition, pregnant women who experience heat exposure and poor air quality are disproportionately affected by negative pregnancy outcomes including neonates with low birth weight, preterm birth, stillbirth, intrauterine growth restriction, and cardiac anomalies,” she says.

Milagros Elia, MA, APRN, ANP-BC, is an oncology nurse practitioner with experience in clinical and community settings. She’s certified as a climate for health ambassador and has been appointed as a member of the ANA Innovation Advisory Committee for Planetary Health.

She notes that according to the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate, climate events have “the potential to disrupt core public health infrastructure and overwhelm health services.” She believes it’s vital for nurses to play a strong role within the healthcare system by advocating for the reduction of their institution’s carbon footprint, transitioning to clean renewable energy, and building climate-resistant facilities.

“Nurses have a tremendous opportunity to protect their patients from the impacts of climate change by working to create sustainable, climate-smart hospitals and health systems,” she says.

She goes on to say that nurses are well-positioned to connect the dots between patients and their local community’s decisions on environmental health. By extension, this also impacts the community’s health and well-being.

In addition, climate change has an impact on changing patterns of disease transmission. This puts an added strain on healthcare and can increase the risk of outbreaks of diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever.

These stressors have an impact on the mental health of both the patient and the nursing staff. The consequences of climate change can increase the risk of anxiety, depression, and other issues following natural disasters, extreme weather events, and other climate-related disruptions.

Climate change has a significant impact on nurses, and more broadly, the healthcare system. It’s crucial that healthcare providers are prepared to adapt and find ways of continuing to provide quality care in the face of these challenges.

The impact of climate change highlights health disparities across socioeconomic statuses as it affects the social and environmental determinants of health. People have different availability to clean air, safe drinking water, secure shelter, and food.

Natural disasters are increasingly frequent occurrences; these contaminate the water supply and create food instability. Natural disasters also displace people from their homes and increase the potential risk of vector-borne diseases.

“Chronic long-term environmental impacts of climate change like droughts, heatwaves, and air pollution, to name a few, cause short and long-term public health issues and disruption across health system factors that support prevention, screenings, diagnosis, and medical treatments,” says Elia.

Unfortunately, the consequences to overall health inevitably harm some populations more than others. Black, indigenous, and people of color, as well as low-income communities, are disproportionately affected and experience systematically higher exposure to health-threatening climate conditions.

The following are nine examples of how climate change has an impact on public health.

Elia wants nurses to understand that they can make a difference as individuals and as a collective voice. Nurses can join well-established nursing organizations that specialize in the environmental health impact of climate change.

They can also find an avenue for public advocacy by working within their own practice and supporting collaboration between disciplines to examine pathways in their institution to lower the carbon footprint. It is important for nurses to be at the table making decisions that help support the integration of evidence-based clinical practice to care for individuals who have been impacted by climate change.

Nurses play a crucial role in addressing the impact of climate change on public health. They are frontline healthcare professionals who are positioned to identify and address the impact climate change has on individuals and communities.

Nicholas believes that one of the primary ways that nurses can prepare themselves for the impact on public health for their patient populations is to be well-read.

“Most nursing and health professions journals are increasingly addressing the health consequences of climate change in their professional publications. Nurses must commit to gaining further knowledge about the looming public health threat of climate change,” she says.

For example, nurses can educate their patients about the risks of heat stroke or how to stay hydrated during heat waves. It’s crucial that patients understand the importance of protection against mosquito bites to reduce the risk of vector-borne diseases.

Additionally, nurses can advocate for policy change at the local, regional, national, and global levels by supporting clean energy, protecting natural resources, and supporting the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Elia notes that the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is a nursing-led online resource that focuses solely on the intersection of health and the environment. Nurses can join the organization and participate in the vision to prepare nurses to overcome environmental health disparities and help ensure the environmental health of all people.

Nurses can also focus on their workplace and communities by advocating for the use of green cleaning products, encouraging public transportation or carpooling, and supporting waste reduction and recycling efforts.

Nurses can also participate by providing information and support within their local healthcare system that allows better responses to the healthcare challenges posed by a change in the climate.

The role that nurses play in addressing climate change and its impact on public health is critical. Nurses have the knowledge, skills, and influence to make a real difference in the health of individuals and communities.