Using a Site Visit to a Contaminated Location as a Focus for Environmental Health Education for Academic and Public Health Nurses

Abstract

We describe a conference initiative that is distinguished by the use of a "community case study" to increase the knowledge and skills of nursing faculty and public health nurses in environmental health and to provide networking support to facilitate infusion of environmental health into nursing curricula and public health nursing practice. The Institute of Medicine's (1995) general environmental health competencies for nurses provided the conference framework. Woburn, Massachusetts, a Superfund site, served as the community case study to illustrate a complex environmental health problem. Over an extended period of time, Woburn was contaminated with multiple chemicals that eventually contaminated the drinking water supply; a cluster of childhood leukemia cases was linked subsequently to the Superfund site contaminants. A 6-hr interpreted walking and bus tour of the Superfund site enabled us to visit the premises of responsible parties, the vapor extraction fields, the capped Well H in the wooded wetlands, and to tour the affected neighborhood. This intensive, hands-on approach to learning environmental health content and skills that incorporated multiple learning strategies serves as a model for developing future conferences for public health nurses and nursing faculty.

Challenges and Successes of Infusing Environmental Health Content in a Nursing Program

“…(The principles of pharmacology and toxicology are the same, and thus can be used to help students understand how toxicants are distributed and concepts such as bioactivation.) The emphasis of the lecture/discussion is on the principles of toxicology and industrial hygiene and public health nursing applied to a ''virtual'' site visit or walkthrough (Backus, Hewitt, & Chalupka 2006).…”

“…Sentinel health events with environmental etiologies include poisonings due to carbon monoxide, methemoglobinemia, pesticides, and metals (including lead poisoning); select cancers such as mesothelioma, bladder cancer, angiosarcoma of the liver, lung cancer in nonsmokers, myelogenous leukemia, acute leukemia in children, and acute granulocytic leukemia in adults; and asthma in children without allergies or exposures to allergens in the home such as environmental tobacco smoke (Shy et al, 1994). Findings from the EHSP and other initiatives (Backus, Hewitt, & Chalupka, 2006) would indicate that these educational strategies may also be effective for enhancing public health nursing competencies.…”

An Environmental Clinical Experience in a RN-BS Program

“…The nursing curricula is already to capacity, so infusing environmental health into the curriculum proves to be difficult. In addition to the curricula design issue, however, the comfort level of nursing faculty with environmental health content and subsequent subjects is a formidable challenge unless they have access to formal or continuing education (Backus, Beauchamp Hewitt, & Chalupka, 2006). Public health nurses and nursing faculty generally possess mid-level to advanced skills in communication, community engagement, and advocacy (Keller et al, 2004).…”

“…Public health nurses and nursing faculty generally possess mid-level to advanced skills in communication, community engagement, and advocacy (Keller et al, 2004). These skills can be utilized and incorporated into environmental health practice and educational arenas (Backus, Beauchamp Hewitt & Chalupka, 2006).…”

Teaching Home Environmental Health to Resident Physicians

“…23,24 Despite these requirements, education of physicians in identifying and managing environmental health risks in the home has lagged behind in medical school and residency training. 25,26 Interventions to promote environmental health in medical education reported in the literature include didactics and practical evaluations for medical and nursing students, 25,[27][28][29][30][31] training of faculty to incorporate environmental health into curricula, 27,32,33 training of public health nurses, 34 and a few residencybased programs primarily focused on occupational health. [35][36][37][38] Education of physicians in the home setting has not been reported.…”