Nursing strategies for environmental justice: A scoping review

Abstract

Objective: To describe types of strategic actions nurses take to promote environmental justice (EJ) through research, education, advocacy, and practice (REAP) reported in peer-reviewed literature. Design and Sample:A scoping review of literature was conducted that described EJ nursing strategies and included nurses listed as authors, subjects, partners, or organizational members. The sample consisted of 35 articles, representing 24 primary research studies and 11 nonresearch articles. Data were separately analyzed by research and nonresearch articles for a clearer understanding of evidence-based strategies within domains of REAP. Results: Articles in the sample highlighted the importance of authentic community partnership and represented diversity of nursing strategies that addressed a range of environmental exposures and subsequent health and racial inequities. Climate justice, a concept that emerged from the EJ movement and intersects with planetary health, is a recent focus in professional nursing. Conclusions: This scoping review establishes an understanding of the extent of nursing knowledge and research in EJ and lays the groundwork for further research on effective EJ nursing strategies. Community-Based Participatory Research/ Participatory Action Research methods are fundamental for EJ research, and further theoretical development is needed to guide evaluation of EJ nursing strategies for education, advocacy, and practice.

Nurses Heal Environmental Injustice Through Community Partnerships

“…A review of the literature reveals the growing extent of the involvement of nurses around EJ, and this is comprehensively documented in a recent scoping review by LeClair et al 11 In the literature, nurses are exhorted to address environmental and climate health impacts and EJ in their practice. 12 Numerous examples of nurses doing so exist, including those published by Amiri and Zhao 13 and Cantu et al 14 However, these authors find in the literature no comparable training programs for nurses around EJ.…”

Planetary Health Nursing

“…In a recent scoping review of the environmental justice nursing literature, climate justice was found to be an emerging topic of concern. 10 Climate justice is a concept that links climate change to social and environmental justice issues, connecting the causes and effects of climate change to structural injustices in society. 11 The Critical Environmental Justice Nursing for Planetary Health Framework was developed to guide nursing inquiry into this and related topics.…”

“…3 One way to do this is by integrating climate justice metrics into electronic health record data and community health needs assessments. 10 Several resources are available to support nurses focused on planetary health (see Resources). The Planetary Health Alliance hosts an international Clinicians for Planetary Health group to educate and build community, and Nurses Drawdown is a global nurse-led movement that promotes specific behavior changes to reduce greenhouse gases and improve the health of humans and the planet.…”

Global Health in Swedish Nursing Curricula: Navigating the Desirable and the Necessary

“…We also agree with authors who stress the interrelationships between environmental justice, GH and SDH. Nursing education must take into account the widening economic and social inequalities and threats to the climate [86] and the environment. Climate change is likely to lead to an increase in disasters [89,90], demanding preparedness and practical skills among nurses [24,91,92].…”

“…Several effective approaches used in teaching are summarised by Thornton and Persaud [84], who also stress the benefits of service-learning in the US. Quinn, El Ghaziri and Knight [85], as well as LeClair, Watts and Zahner [86] point to benefits of community partnerships. Patrick, Kingsley and Capetola [87] and Grose and Richardson [88] stress similar strategies for teaching environmental issues, and also underline social and environmental justice, as well as systems thinking.…”