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Review
. 2024 Sep;56(3):193-203.
doi: 10.1177/08445621241229932. Epub 2024 Feb 19.

Nurses and Climate Change: A Narrative Review of Nursing Associations' Recommendations for Integrating Climate Change Mitigation Strategies

Coralie Gaudreau  1 , Laurence Guillaumie  1   2 , Édith Jobin  1 , Thierno Amadou Diallo  1
Affiliations
Review

Nurses and Climate Change: A Narrative Review of Nursing Associations' Recommendations for Integrating Climate Change Mitigation Strategies

Coralie Gaudreau et al. Can J Nurs Res. 2024 Sep.

Abstract

Background: According to the World Health Organization, climate change is the greatest challenge of the twenty-first century. It is already affecting the health of many Canadians through extreme heat, wildfires and the expansion of zoonotic diseases. As trusted professionals, nurses are in favourable position to take action on climate change.

Purpose: To document the recommendations issued by Quebec, Canadian, American and international nursing associations regarding nursing practices that address climate change or environmental issues.

Methods: This narrative review was conducted by establishing a list of environmental and general nursing associations in the geographical areas of interest through Google searches as well as by retrieving documents about climate change or environmental issues published by these organizations on their websites. Data related to the documents' characteristics and recommended nursing roles were then extracted.

Results: The review identified 13 nurses' organizations and 20 documents describing 37 recommendations for nurses in seven socioecological areas: individual, patient-focused, workplace, nursing associations, public health organizations, political and education.

Conclusions: There is a gap between the breadth of roles that nurses may be called upon to play in addressing climate change and the degree to which relevant organizations are prepared to create the required conditions for them to do so. Several lessons emerged, including that the urgency of the climate crisis requires clear guidelines on how nurses can integrate climate change and its resultant health concerns into practice through nurses' associations, education and bottom-up nursing innovations. Funding is required for such initiatives, which must also prioritize health inequalities.

Keywords: Climate change; environmental issues; nurses’ associations; nursing practice.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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