Celebrating Earth Day: Connecting Health and the Environment

Photo by Fateme Alaie via Unsplash

Earth Day, celebrated on April 22, is an annual event to demonstrate support for environmental protections. First held in 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated in more than 192 countries across the globe. The Earth Day celebration that stands out most for me was the 20th anniversary held in Central Park in New York. The event was estimated to have drawn more than 750,000 people—a big incentive being the free concert, which included a performance by the B-52s (who doesn’t love “Love Shack”?).

This year marks the 41st Earth Day, and amidst a global pandemic, activities will look a lot different. (Click here for more information on the virtual events taking place this year.)

Free articles from our environments and health column.

In honor of Earth Day, AJN would like to offer free access to the below selection of articles from our Environments and Health column until May 15. There’s a lot to unpack in these articles—from steps to reduce waste at the hospital level, to how nurses can get involved in fighting climate change, to how patients’ health can be affected by our environment, particularly the mental health conditions that may arise amid […]

2021-04-22T14:42:23-04:00April 22nd, 2021|climate change, environmental health, environmental health, Nursing|0 Comments
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Nurses Recognizing the Importance of Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!

In the midst of this climate crisis it is important to take some moments to celebrate the earth. I like to do so by hiking in the Camden Hills on the coast of Maine. Over the last year, many cities and states have taken the lead in addressing climate change. I know this firsthand, as I serve as mayor of a small city in Maine. In the last year, our city has installed free public electric vehicle chargers, turned on our third solar array and are now powering almost 90% of our municipal electricity with solar, and created a city climate change committee to study the effects of climate on our community.

The most pressing public health challenge of this century.

As nurses we intimately know the communities that we serve and are aware of the potential physical and mental health effects of environmental factors. As the most trusted health profession, our voice is important in communication related to health and climate change.

As the nation moves towards a transition to renewable energy, nurses can join the conversation to ensure that all people are supported and included. Nurses know the importance of considering health in policy making. This includes ensuring that the communities who have been historically left out of environmental policy […]

2019-04-22T08:22:51-04:00April 22nd, 2019|Nursing|0 Comments
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Sustainable Health Care Environments

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

Laura Anderko Laura Anderko

In our April issue, we give a nod to Earth Day (April 22) and its focus on the environment. The article, “Greening the ‘Proclamation for Change’: Healing Through Sustainable Health Care Environments” (free until May 8), by Laura Anderko and colleagues Stephanie Chalupka, Whitney Austin Gray, and Karen Kesten, highlights how hospitals can incorporate design elements and practices not only to reduce energy consumption and garbage, but to provide a healing environment for patients and staff. There is ample evidence in support of the use of natural light, noise-reducing materials for floors and walls, and other design elements in improving rest and healing. And the evidence also shows the benefit to staff AJN0413.Cover.2nd.inddin terms of reducing stress, fatigue, and errors. Denise Choiniere Denise Choiniere

Anderko put me in touch with Denise Choiniere, MS, RN, a former critical care nurse who is now director of sustainability, materials management, and in-house construction at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. So how does one go from being a bedside nurse to overseeing construction and environmental efforts? Choiniere says she had “an ‘aha’ moment” when she realized that the chemicals being used to clean hospitals could make people ill. Listen to my podcast with Anderko and Choiniere to learn more about how nurses […]

2016-11-21T13:07:54-05:00April 8th, 2013|nursing perspective|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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