Factory chimney and smoke stock image.

Nurses Can Lessen the Effects of Climate Change on Respiratory Health

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2018 issue of Columbia Nursing magazine.

Nurses can play an important role in reducing the deleterious effects of climate change on respiratory health, especially among vulnerable patient populations, according to a paper from Columbia Nursing.

Through a multipronged approach that entails research, policy, and clinical action, nurses can lessen the effects that increasing temperatures, extreme weather, desertification, and flooding have on patient populations—particularly children and adults with asthma or other respiratory conditions, wrote co-authors and associate professors Maureen George, PhD, and Jean Marie Bruzzese, PhD.

In a review of the scientific literature addressing the adverse effects of climate change on asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, and respiratory infections, George and Bruzzese found that such change alters the natural and built environment in ways that may potentially increase respiratory disease prevalence, morbidity, and mortality. In addition to suggesting future research to explain climate-change hazards, they proposed policies to support the prevention and mitigation of climate change. They emphasized that nurses could help reduce individual risk by considering climate-change impacts when providing patient assessments, treatments, and education.

“The effects of climate change on respiratory health are probably the most established and yet poorly understood,” says George, lead author. “We need to think about how we are educating the workforce to identify and deal with these worsening connections to health and environment.”

Bruzzese adds, “Many nurses are not aware of the impact of climate change on respiratory health, especially within children who are among the most vulnerable. We hoped to call attention to this important problem and suggest ways nurses can lessen the impact of climate change.”

The paper stemmed from George’s original research, which found evidence that environmental factors ranging from pollen, dirt, illegal dumping, and traffic could create “hot spots” that worsen respiratory health symptoms. Being mindful of what health implications deteriorate with climate change will help nurses consider how to better care for their patients, according to the co-authors.

“While it will take generations to reduce the health effects of greenhouse gases, there are immediate opportunities for nurses to lead research, practice, and policy initiatives aimed at lessening these effects,” says George.

This study was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and appeared in the May 13, 2017, online edition of the Journal of Nursing Scholarship.