The Nurses Climate Challenge: A National Campaign to Engage 5,000 Health Professionals around Climate Change

Abstract

Climate change poses significant threats to human health and worsens existing inequities. The health sector is a significant contributor to climate change, making up approximately 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Yet most nurses do not learn about the health dangers of climate change in their education or in practice, and therefore are ill-equipped to lead action on climate change. When educated about climate change, nurses can effectively lead climate adaptation and mitigation strategies aimed at creating healthier populations. As the most trusted professionals and making up 40% of the health-care workforce, nurses have the potential to impact behavior change and launch a movement around climate solutions. Health Care Without Harm and the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments partnered on the “Nurses Climate Challenge” with the aim of nurses educating 5,000 health professionals on climate and health. In the Nurses Climate Challenge, nurses register as Nurse Climate Champions and gain access to online resources to plan and host educational sessions about climate change. After educating, Nurse Climate Champions return to the online platform to track their progress. Within 10 months, over 540 Nurse Climate Champions from 6 continents, 16 countries, and 42 U.S. states registered for access to the resources. To date, the champions have educated over 5,250 colleagues and students about climate and health. Based on early metrics, this model of education and engagement around climate action may be applicable for other disciplines in health care and beyond.

School of Nursing Climate Commitment: Nursing Faculty Bring Climate to the Classroom

“…The primary foci of programs such as the GCCHE and MGHIHP are to increase knowledge of how human health is negatively impacted by climate change, such as acute effects from extreme heat, exacerbations in chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, increased vector-borne illness such as malaria and Lyme disease, and mental health impacts, among others [13,14]. In 2018, the Nurses Climate Challenge (NCC) was developed to fill a gap in educational resources for nurses that could be applied in a variety of nursing practice settings in the U.S. [21]. The NCC was developed by Health Care Without Harm [22] & the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments [23]-both non-profit organizations with missions to reduce human health harms from the environment.…”

Nursing’s pivotal role in global climate action

“…In addition to taking on interprofessional work, nurses have also recognized that speaking the truth also means critically examining their own healthcare practices. Acknowledging responsibility for climate change has led to the development of initiatives such as the Nurses Climate Challenge (focused on climate education) and the Nurses Drawdown (focused specifically on greenhouse gas emission); such efforts represent effective conduits for collective action 152021…”

Training Clinical And Public Health Leaders In Climate And Health

“…By signing on, they gain access to free resources for planning educational events, including sample outreach messages, templates for educational presentations, and other communication tools. 17 Professional medical societies have also been increasingly active in mobilizing their memberships and specialties to have greater awareness of climate and health impacts on their patients. The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, housed at and affiliated with George Mason University, has become a focal point for intersocietal engagement.…”