Question

Many environmental forces influence human health. Human health requires a viable environment that incorporates the local ecosystem, including the air, water, and soil, and the availability of safe and adequate food.

Discuss the role of the population health nurse in prevention measures for environmental issues that affect population health.

Answer 1

There is a growing body of evidence regarding the presence of toxic pollutants in the air, water, soil, food, and indoor environments, and the health effects of these pollutants on humans. Children have special vulnerabilities to environmental risks in their homes, schools, and communities.

Addressing children's vulnerabilities and decreasing their exposures require a multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary approach with clinical, public health, and policy interventions. Preventing exposure to hazardous levels of pollution is largely the role of the public health community, environmental protection agencies.

Nurses provide leadership through
upstream climate strategies of mitigation and resilience,
and downstream interventions to climate events.

Nurses
play essential roles in both reducing and responding to
the health consequences of climate change. Not only
are they critical to every facet of health promotion and
patient care, nurses are also trusted messengers of health
information and serve as essential personnel during all
phases of disaster response.

Nurses are also knowl-
edgeable stewards of health-related resources and are
leaders in implementing actions that reduce health-
care’s waste stream (e.g., biohazards, pharmaceutical
waste) and carbon footprint.

Nurses play essential roles in reducing health

problems due to climate change:-

To protect and preserve

the public’s health, both upstream and downstream poli-

cies are needed.

Upstream policies:-

*They focus on pollution prevention

and taking actions to assure the best possible climate

outcomes for future generations.

They includes:-

1. Reduce sources of pollution that contribute to climate
change.
a. Mobilize, focus, incentivize, and increase nation-
al funding for climate protective actions.
b. Oppose any rollback of climate protective polices
addressing fuel economy standards, power plant emissions, and other sources of atmospheric

carbon.

c. Support climate protective initiatives at the

community level, emphasizing the needs of popu-

lations and communities most affected.

2. Educate the public so that they understand

the connections between their health and climate

health. An informed citizenry is needed if health pro-

tective policies are to be enacted and supported.

3. Advance training initiatives that improve nurses’
ability to implement sustainability initiatives in
health-care systems.
a. Identify mitigation strategies for energy efficien-
cy, waste reduction and safe waste disposal, and
preferential purchasing to reduce the environ-
mental footprint and advocate that they be
implemented in health-care settings.
b. Expand interdisciplinary health-care teams to
reduce adverse impacts from health-care sector
upon climate and health.

Downstream policies:-

*They focus on climate adaptation and

response, helping to prepare the United States to address

the health consequences of climate change.

They includes:-

1. Increase support for federally funded research aimed

at minimizing the local consequences of climate

change.

2. Urge the American Association of Colleges of Nursing

(AACN) and HRSA to develop curricula and profes-

sional development opportunities to increase the

knowledge and skills of the health-care workforce to

effectively address the health impacts of climate

change.

a. Strengthen the capacity of the nursing work-

force to act proactively and effectively before,

during, and after disasters.

3. Urge the American Nurses Association (ANA) to in-

corporate climate change and health into the Scope

and Standards of Practice: Nursing to require effective

response into clinical practice for the care of persons

affected by climate change.

4. Collaborate with governmental and nongovernmen-

tal organizations such as the Federal Emergency

Management Agency (FEMA), the Red Cross, and local

Medical Reserve Corps to adopt or update strate-

gies addressing emergency responses to climate

change-related disasters.