Nurses’ perspectives on climate change, health and nursing practice

Aims and Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore Canadian nurses’ perspectives on climate change, health, nursing practice and the relationships between these concepts. Background Climate change negatively impacts human health. With a mandate to promote health, nurses have a professional and ethical responsibility to address climate change. Little is known about Canadian nurses’ perspectives on climate change or how they perceive of their professional responsibility towards addressing it. Methods A focused ethnography was conducted in three medicine units and the emergency room at a Canadian hospital. Nurses (n = 22) participated in semi‐structured interviews, and observations were collected. Data were analysed via thematic analysis. Reporting is in accordance with the COREQ guideline. Results Three themes were identified: muddled terminology, climate change and health, and nursing's relationship to climate change. Conclusion Participants had varying levels of knowledge about climate change and its relationship to health or practice. Climate change was a personal concern, and nursing's role in addressing it was not understood. Relevance to Practice This study highlighted that practising nurses did not readily recognise their role in addressing climate change. More work is needed to clarify this role and bring it into the consciousness of every‐day nursing practice. Furthermore, more work is needed to examine how healthcare organisations can better support environmentally responsible nursing practice.