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Understanding the ecological consciousness of nurses to advance ecohealth knowledge & practice BEYOND PURPOSE & CONTEXT It is well established that health, quality of life and environment are intimately interrelated. At the same time, unprecedented environmental changes across the globe are resulting in ecosystem destruction, biodiversity loss, chemical contamination, and multiple human health effects. Health professionals are being called to take a leading role in advocating for action on climate and the protection of ecosystem health. The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) chose Environmental Health as their Centenary theme in 2008, affirming that every nurse should be applying environmental health principles in their practice, and creating a series of webcasts and on-line tools for practice. Despite this context of crisis, and advances in nursing knowledge and education, over the past decade, the conception of environment within the discipline and integration of knowledge into nursing practice has remained restricted. Environmental health remains marginalised in nursing education and practice globally, with nurses struggling to get beyond the slogans to arrive at practical applications. Nursing Explorations 2018 November 30, 2018, Montreal, Quebec Fiona Hanley, RN, MSc & Sonya L. Jakubec, RN, PhD FINDINGS N=40 (32 nurses in education and practice, in Quebec, Alberta and BC; 8 student nurses from Quebec). Themes: - Awakening consciousness - Influential early nature experiences - Influential professional experiences - Disciplinary/Profession Challenges - Conflicted role of nurses in health promotion alongside waste and biochemical contamination - Little recognition of nurse expertise or role as agents for environmental action - Restrictions to curriculum; lack of administrative will; disinterest; lack of urgency - Finding opportunities - Heightened awareness of new students/faculty - Integration v. distinct curricular threads - Novel learning activities - Extending metaparadigm concept(s) Students specifically expressed a need for early integration of environmental health teaching into their curriculum. “As a nurse, I feel very limited in my scope of action. When you compare what you recycle at home with the absolute lack of recycling in hospital, it is a shock. Even with a limited environmental consciousness you notice the enormous amount of waste that is happening. (...) The problem is complex and (...) as an individual, your choices are limited.” I believe that as nurses we have a unique ability to be able to connect health to the environment in our patient teaching, our practice and our overall engagement with social justice (...) as our work is about care and people and what happens to them thus what happens to our planet is essential. DISCUSSION & FUTURE DIRECTIONS Findings illustrate the ongoing knowledge-practice gap, and highlight nurses’ frustrations about continued marginalization of the urgent issues & their potential. Insights about nurses’ motivations arising from experiences in developing eco-consciousness were gleaned. Opportunities exist for an ↑ role in adopting environmental health as central to the discipline and practice of Nursing. Curricular approaches will benefit from: - Normalizing/integration the connection - Influencing consciousness from an early stage in education such as the EU NurSus sustainability curriculum. Lines of further analysis recommended include: - The role of early experiences - Pedagogical practices to transform the health sector; considering where and how we teach - Practice interventions to respond to the ecological crises of our times. APPROACH & METHODS Framed by Ecopsychology theory (concerned with nature connection, individual wellness and social/earth justice), this study employed an online survey (n-=40) with descriptive statistics) and thematic content analysis. The study explored: (1) factors that influenced ecohealth consciousness, (2) how eco-consciousness affected nursing work, and (3) how eco- consciousness was integrated into practice. REFERENCES References and article (forthcoming) from this work are available on request, please contact the lead investigator. [email protected] ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dawson College Nursing Department, Canadian Nurses for Health and the Environment (CNHE-IISE), Canadian Nurses Association, Association des enseignantes et enseignants en soins infirmiers des collèges du Québec, Olivier S. Hanley. THE SLOGANS: « Mon activisme environnemental a beaucoup à voir avec la justice sociale et écologique et cela se transpose ou traduit moins dans mon expérience clinique et en soins aigus. » Understanding toxins in the everyday world is directly correlated to health and wellness and disease prevention. As a nurse it is our duty to advocate best practice... ” “ “ “
