NLN Publishes New Vision Statement on Climate Change & Health
NLN Publishes New Vision Statement on Climate Change & Health
League Urges Nurse Educators to Educate, Mitigate & Advocate to Safeguard Public Health from Ill Effects of Climate Change
Washington, DC — With climate change driving increasing patterns of extreme weather and natural disasters across the globe, the threats to public health are multiplying and intensifying at an alarming rate. In the latest entry in a series of Vision Statements, Climate Change and Health, the National League for Nursing has issued a bold call to nurse educators and other key stakeholders to take action against the adverse effects of climate change on personal, family, community and world health.
Human health is inextricably linked to the health of our planet, with poor health outcomes resulting from climate change projected to become more severe in the coming years. These include heat-related illnesses; pollution-induced respiratory ailments; vector-borne, food-borne, and water-borne diseases; and mental health challenges from disruptions, dislocations, and other environmental traumas.
“The health consequences of climate change are among the most urgent public health and health equity crises of the 21st century. This Vision Statement addresses the importance of educating current and future nurses across the spectrum of higher education for climate change-informed practice and policy leadership,” said NLN Chair Kathleen Poindexter, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, interim associate dean of academic affairs at Michigan State University in Lansing. “The National League for Nursing is uniquely positioned to lead as we confront the code red for a healthy future and a healthy planet.”
“As the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted, communities of color and vulnerable populations are at the highest risk of experiencing climate-triggered adversities—such as food shortages, water contamination, interruptions to public transit and emergency services—that require immediate response. Nurses must be prepared to anticipate and mitigate such conditions as they fulfill their calling to deliver patient-centered, culturally sensitive care,” said NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN.
Climate Change and Health provides a detailed analysis of the multiple ways climate change has impacted and is expected to continue to negatively impact such key aspects of global health like:
- Ecology and biodiversity
- Morbidity and mortality
- Shifting population centers from forced migrations
- Civil unrest, violence, conflict, and war
- Malnutrition
- Psychological distress: eco-anxiety and solastalgia, defined as pain, sickness, sense of dislocation
- Job and economic loss
The statement concludes with an outline of recommendations for the League, nurse educators, deans, and directors, nurses in practice, and policymakers and advocates.
For the complete text of this Vision Statement, visit NLN.org.
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About the National League for Nursing
Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers professional development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its nearly 45,000 individual and 1,100 institutional members, comprising nursing education programs across the spectrum of higher education and health care organizations. Learn more at NLN.org.