Published
2023-12-21
Section
Articles
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Kasey Bellegarde, MPH, RN, Linda Koh, PhD, MS, RN, PHN, Carol Ziegler, NP-C, APHN-BC, DNP, Milagros R. Elia, MA, APRN, ANP-BC, Rizalina Bonuel, PhD, RN, CCRN-K, ACNS-BC, APRN-BC, Amy Rose Taylor, AGNP-BC, DNP
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How to Cite
The Power of Nursing Innovation in Planetary Health
Kasey Bellegarde
Ariadne Labs
Linda Koh
Stanford University School of Medicine
Carol Ziegler
Vanderbilt University
Milagros Elia
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments; M. Elia Nature-Based Healthcare Solutions
Rizalina Bonuel
Harris Health System
Amy Rose Taylor
Commission for Nurse Reimbursement
Keywords: Nurse-Led Innovation, Planetary Health, Climate Change, Nurse's Role, Nursing Leadership, Movement-Building, Health Promotion, Nursing, Health Equity, Climate Justice
Abstract
We live and work in a time of unprecedented disruptions to our planet’s natural systems. Nurses, as frontline workers and stewards of health, care for the health consequences of these environmental changes in emergency rooms, clinics, and homes around the world. The nursing workforce is well-positioned to act as a critical early warning system for detecting and forecasting threats to human and planetary health, and to lead in aligning health and planet co-benefits in research, education, policy, and practice. To respond to these threats, nurses are reimagining roles in which they shepherd the transformative shift in the ways we live with the planet to restore health and balance for all species. With their instincts for creative problem solving and complex systems thinking, as well as their proximity to patients’ needs and experiences, nurses are natural innovators and trusted partners in healing. For nurses, the grand innovation challenge of planetary health means taking on the planet as our patient, with more opportunities to partner at scale to achieve better health outcomes. Planetary and global health has been identified as a key area of nursing innovation by the American Nurses Association (ANA), one of the United States’ leading national nursing organizations. This article provides a primer on how nurses are using collaborative partnerships and innovations in planetary health. It highlights the work of the ANA Innovation Advisory Committee on Planetary and Global Health as well as nurse leaders advancing planetary health from the community to the global level. Contributing authors explore the space between planetary health, nursing innovation, and partnership, illustrating how nurses are leading work to redesign and amplify their roles in caring for both people and the planet.
