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

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.