Why Nurses Need to be Concerned About the Environment
Article Outline
WHEN WE THINK of nurses in their daily work, we frequently conjure an image of a nurse at the bedside caring for a patient. Although this is likely an accurate image, it does not completely capture the work of nursing. We must not forget that nurses delivering individual health care encompass much more. Caring for a patient also means being attentive to the environment in which the individual is experiencing health care. A healthy environment is necessary for optimal health and health care. The environment refers to the immediate situation or context in which the patient is experiencing a health condition or recovering from illness or surgery (e.g., the patient's room, the hospital, and the health care agency). Furthermore, the environment refers to the larger global context to which we need to attend as we protect our natural resources, such as air and water. These larger global resource issues also affect the health of individuals.
Environmental concerns to nursing are not new. The importance of placing a priority on the environment is often addressed, and we have a whole specialty in nursing in environmental and occupational nursing/health. Florence Nightingale (1860/1969) aptly addressed the importance of the environment in her classic book, Notes on Nursing. She stated that nursing “is an act of utilizing the environment of the patient to assist [him] in his recovery.” Nightingale, one of the first nurse theorists, developed a theory that strongly emphasized how the environment is critical to the health of the patient. An important role of nursing, according to Nightingale, is to create an environment that is conducive to restoring a patient's health. She included several salient environmental factors that are crucial to the patient's health. These factors are pure or fresh air, pure water, sufficient food, efficient drainage, cleanliness, and light (especially direct sunlight). Deficiencies in any of these environmental factors may negatively affect the health of the individual.
Although there is a strong history in nursing on emphasizing the importance of the environment, it is worth reemphasizing why nurses should care about the environment. This reemphasis is particularly timely as former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently accepted the Nobel Prize for Peace as a result of their work done to address the potential and critical consequences of global warming to the world. The importance of recognizing global environmental and health issues as critical to our lives is reflected in this award. A recent Sierra Club report emphasized that the warming across the globe may lead to increased risk of diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, and encephalitis, to name only a few (http://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/health/). Global warming represents a critical environmental issue with potential disastrous health effects. In addition to global warming, many other environmental health hazards are present. Air pollution, allergens, electromagnetic fields, noise, and ultraviolet light represent some of these environmental hazards. Various health consequences include asthma and other respiratory diseases, allergies, and dermatological problems.
Based on the current state of our environment and the rich history in nursing, there is strong rationale for nurses to be concerned with the environment. Nurses have a long tradition in public health and community health, which includes environmental health. The National Association of School Nurses (2007) compiled a report on environmental health hazards in schools, urging school nurses to become actively involved in addressing environmental health issues. The report describes the role of school nurses as advocates for schoolchildren and communicating to others about possible environmental toxins.
We, as nurses, can become involved in protecting the environment through various avenues. In doing health teaching, we can teach about environmental practices that promote health, such as decreasing pollution, maintaining cleanliness, avoiding allergens, and decreasing hazardous wastes. This teaching can be targeted toward patients as well as families of patients, community members, and other health care professionals. We also can become involved in environmental health through legislative or policy work. We can work in organizations that promote environmental health and safety. We need to make ourselves aware of environmental hazards. We need to understand how to decrease these hazards. We need to communicate to and teach our patients how to establish healthy environments. As nurse educators, we can include content in our curricula that address environmental health.
Do nurses need to be concerned with the environment? My own view is a resounding “yes.” I invite you to comment on how you believe that we, as nurses, can work toward protecting our environment and, as a result, the health of our communities and the patients who live in those communities.
References
PII: S8755-7223(07)00293-1
doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2007.12.006
© 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
