ANHE

Barbara Sattler, DrPH, RN, FAAN

Professor

University of Maryland School of Nursing

and

Brenda M. Afzal, MS, RN

July 19, 2010

"Activism is my rent for living on this planet."

--Alice Walker

Nurses are fierce defenders of their patients and communities.  They are also clear spokespeople and a powerful force as individuals. When working in unison and in collaborations and coalitions with nurses and non-nurses, nurses are even more powerful.  Nurses represent an emerging citizen group that is concerned about a range of environmental risks which are affecting human health.   They are not simply concerned. Many times they are absolutely outraged by the lack of attention being paid to the grave environmental health threats that we are all facing.  It is this concern and energy that is must be captured and directed to create an exceptional voice for change in the environmental health arena.

Nurses comprise the largest professional workforce in the health care sector. One in every one hundred Americans is a Registered Nurse.  Nurses’ have capacity to influence decisions in their own households and, their communities. For example, nurses are involved with PTAs, faith-based institutions, and non-profit agencies, etc.   Working in a variety of settings schools, clinics, homes, hospitals creates a unique opportunity to make change. 

Many nurses are already actively involved in policy and advocacy work at the state and federal level.   As nurses’ consciousness has been raised about environmental health risks, their roles in this arena are developing.  Many nurses are working in their institutions and communities on environmental health issues. Some nurses have begun to recognize and act on the critical need to add nurses’ voices to the policy debates and campaigns about global warming, chemical policies, safer products, and other crucial, health-related policies.  Given nurses’ deep and broad communication networks, nurses can be mobilized to meet with their local, state, and national elected officials. Efforts to prep and send nurses to speak with their elected officials about such issues as coal-fired power plants  and banning dangerous fire-retardant chemicals , have been highly successful.  Nurses are uniformly viewed as trusted, un-biased sources of information by policy-makers and the public. 

In the last few years the greening movement has achieved a tipping point in the U.S.  There is a new and energized concern about the environment and its effects to the health of individuals, families, and communities.  Climate change is certainly topping the list. As nurses, we are concerned about what we can do individually and within our hospitals to reduce greenhouse gases.  At the same time we have the human health threats associated with heat, weather extremes, drinking water shortages, and food security conditions that may ensue. We acknowledge the importance of tooling up for these critical events.

In addition, news has accumulated about products that are creating health risks to our families and communities. These hazards include toxic toys, flame retardants, pesticides, and even cosmetics. This news has resulted in an understanding that our overall health and safety policies regarding products and chemicals is in need of comprehensive repair.  Nurses have joined several of the active state campaigns to address chemicals policy reform,  including those in  Washington, Maine, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and Massachusetts. 

When nurses advocate, they use the same framework learned as part of the basic nursing curriculum. First they assess the problem.  In doing so, they must be diligent and rigorously scientific and evidence-based.  They then determine an appropriate intervention – whether addressing the needs of individuals, families, or whole communities.  They then plan and implement the intervention and follow that up with an evaluation to determine the efficacy of the intervention.  Nurses have high level expertise in applying this assessment framework. However in the world of environmental health, most nurses have not learned about environmental health in their basic education, nor have they have been introduced to the range of credible sources of science. 

It is clear that there is scientific support that one’s environment has a direct impact on their health.  It is well known that nurses have a strong desire to work toward prevention of disease and disability rather than simply treating existing conditions.  By providing nurses with the knowledge and skills around environmental health and enhancing their skills in this area, they will become powerful in the growing effort to improve the health of the environment.  As one of the most trusted sources of health information in the country, nurses will also be able to influence their communities and states to make healthier decisions about policy affecting their environments. 

States are often the “laboratories” for national policies.  In the past several years, we have seen states ban mercury-containing products, flame retardants, and phthalate containing personal care products (link to Stacy Malkin’s book, to powerpoint on personal care products, NLM website on Phthlates, EWG website on personal care products)).   While there are efforts to develop a comprehensive, national chemical policy there is still much room for experimentation at the state level.  Additionally, the state level campaigns help to build the grassroots constituents who will be necessary to pass more sweeping chemical policies at the national level. (Add information on new chemicals bill)

This section on environmental health advocacy provides key information and resources for nurses and others who want to be more effective advocates for protecting the environment and human health. The information is intended to help you learn about the organizations and agencies that are responsible for environmental laws, regulations, and other policies and how you can influence them.

essentials

Last updated 427 days ago by Laura Evans