Environmental Health

Social Determinants of Health Last Updated: 2013/3/21

The environment is an important social determinant of health and has a profound impact on why some people are healthy and others are not. The CNA Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses supports nurses’ engagement in environmental health issues — understanding them should be a part of every nurse’s practice. Given that some populations are more vulnerable to environmental risks, nurses must be particularly strong advocates.

CNA has developed tools to support nurses in addressing environmental health issues effectively, no matter what setting they work in, be it clinical practice, administration, research, education or policy. CNA’s work on environmental health was first guided by a reference group comprised of nurses from across Canada. The group has expanded to include other interested nurses and has become a CNA Associate Group member: Canadian Nurses for Health and the Environment.

CNA presentation toolkit

CNA created the following tools to assist nurses who are engaging in environmental health through presentations to patients, colleagues and the public. These tools are free, are available in both English and French and can be downloaded for use in your practice.

Background papers

Role of Nurses, Climate Change

Background papers provide an overview of the topic and identify actions that nurses can take. Available as a PDF.

Videos

Role of Nurses, Greening Health System

Videos describe the issue from a nursing perspective in approximately three minutes. Downloadable in Windows format only.

Educational modules

PP Principles

Educational modules include a PowerPoint presentation, plus teaching objectives and a reading list. Choose Save to download the presentation to your desktop.

Draft abstracts

The draft abstracts complement the educational modules above. You may use them as a basis for developing a submission to a conference’s Call for Abstracts. Available as a PDF.

Other presentation tools

Poster template

For advertising your presentation. Print out, and then add details about the date, location, etc., of your presentation. Available as a PDF.

Handout

Summarizes CNA’s tools and resources. Print out and distribute to members of your audience. Available as a PDF.

Bookmark

A small and attractive giveaway for people attending your presentation. Concisely sums up the supports available through CNA. Print out on card stock paper. Available as a PDF.

Env_Health_Cars

Other references from CNA’s environmental health project

Nurses and environmental health: Survey results

In December 2007, CNA surveyed nurses on their experiences related to environmental health. The findings from this survey were used to guide this initiative and are available in Nurses and Environmental Health: Survey Results.

Environmental health and climate change workshops

Two workshops were conducted in 2008: the first focused on environmental health (report); the second on climate change (report).

Environmental sustainability NurseONE Knowledge Feature

More resources are available on CNA’s NurseONE Knowledge Feature — Environmental Sustainability: Nurses Taking Action

Environmental health websites

GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

CANADIAN SITES

INTERNATIONAL SITES

CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

CANADIAN GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

GREENING THE HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM