ANHE Environmental Health Nurse Fellowship: Fellows Application
In June 2022, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments will launch a second cohort of the Environmental Health Nurse Fellowship Program. This fellowship is intended to train nurses to work with communities in tackling serious environmental health issues, with an emphasis on climate and health equity, as well as to provide them with mentorship and skills-building opportunities so that they can take on increasing leadership roles in the communities that they serve. The fellowship will have a particular emphasis on climate change and health equity, but will include content on a variety of environmental health topics such as chemical exposures; food, air, and water quality; energy and health; and environmental justice. Environmental justice, the notion that no community should be disproportionately impacted by environmental exposures is a core value of ANHE in all of our work. See the full program description here. Applications are due March 20th, 2022 and Nurse Fellows will be selected by April 8th, 2022.
Program Requirements/Expectations
The Fellowship Program is a year-long program that will run from June 1st 2022 – May 31st 2023. Nurse fellows are paired with expert environmental health nurse mentors who will help guide their journey throughout the program. For the second cohort, we are seeking 24 nurse fellows to participate in the program. We anticipate that this role will require 12 – 15 hours/month with some variation over the course of the year. Three nurse fellows will be paired with one nurse mentor with significant experience in environmental health and community partnerships for the duration of the program. Together, the mentor and fellow will identify a target community and develop a plan to guide the fellowship experience. As part of the program, nurse fellows are expected to:
- Be enthusiastically committed to dedicating the time and energy needed for this responsibility for the full year of the program (June 1st, 2022- May 31st, 2023)
- Conduct projects in partnership with a community-based organization to address a community-identified environmental health concern aimed at promoting health equity and building climate resilience.
- Participate in at least 80% of scheduled Fellowship webinars and skill building sessions to prepare fellows for their partnership work with community partners (these will take place roughly once a month for approximately 2 hours).
- Communicate with mentors at least on a monthly basis (1-2 hour/month). Check in periodically with program staff (individually or with your mentor).
- Provide quarterly reports to mentor and program staff on project and Fellowship progress.
- Hold at least two educational sessions for fellow health professionals about work and learning in the Fellowship program.
- Attend two Fellowship convenings where we will build community, learn together, and expand partnerships with mentors and program staff. Fellowship convenings will be held in June 2022 and Spring 2023. The June 2022 convening will be virtual and the Spring 2023 convening will be in-person (dependent on COVID). If an in-person meeting is held, travel and accommodations will be covered by ANHE.
- Support the evaluation and continuing improvement of this program.
To support the nurse fellows project based work in partnership with CBOs a stipend of $1000 will be provided. Fellows will also receive access to all of the Fellowship webinar recordings and will be able to receive up to 36 contact hours of continuing education for live or asynchronous participation.
Building relationships with communities and community-based organizations can take time. If you don’t already have an established connection/relationship with a community please note this may be a challenge when initially starting the Fellowship. We encourage nurses who are currently partnering with a community-based organization and/or have a potential connection to a partner organization to apply. ANHE may also be able to connect you with a local organization in some instances. For specific questions and concerns regarding this please reach out to Cara Cook at cara@envirn.org. A community-based organization is an organization driven by community residents. Examples of community-based organizations include faith-based, environmental justice, labor, community development corporations, etc.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants to the program must:
- Have at least one year of nursing experience
- Active nursing license
- Express interest in environmental health nursing
- Demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Preferred candidates will have an existing relationship with a specific community-based group, access to forums to educate other nurses (e.g. graduate student, faculty, leadership role within nursing organization, or supervisor or manager), and have experience working on public or environmental health issues. Due to existing relationships with community-based organizations, we encourage fellows in the following locations to apply: Charleston, SC; Birmingham (or surrounding locations), AL; Kansas City, Missouri; Houston & Austin, TX; Miami, FL; Portland, OR; Detroit, MI; Boston, MA; Pittsburgh & Philadelphia, PA Fresno, LA & San Diego, CA; New York City.
How do I apply for the program?
Applicants must submit the following to be considered for the fellowship:
- Contact information (name, address, email, telephone, employer/affiliated organization and position held, nursing licensure number)
- Resume/CV
- Two letters of recommendation
- Essay Questions
- Please provide a brief description of your nursing experience and any applicable experience working with communities or community-based organizations. (500 words max)
- In further detail, outline your interest in environmental health and include any relevant work, volunteer, or educational experience. (500 words max)
- Provide a brief summary of what you bring to the fellowship program and what you hope to learn from participating. (500 words max)
To apply, submit this nurse fellow application by March 20th. For questions regarding the fellowship please email cara@envirn.org.
The Environmental Health Nurse Fellowship program is made possible through generous support from the Kresge Foundation. The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments values diversity and inclusion in the workplace and we encourage nurses from all backgrounds and experiences to apply.