On Sunday, September 21st, 2014, Hunter and Baruch students gathered with 310,000 people in New York City from across the United States to march in solidarity and to raise awareness of environmental health issues, pollution prevention, and institutional environmental accountability at the People’s Climate March. This event brought together organizations across disciplines; the Nursing Students’ Association of New York State (NSANYS) and the Hunter-Bellevue Student Nurses’ Association (HBSNA), a National Nursing Students’ Association (NSNA) chapter, joined religious groups, student activist groups like CUNY Divest and the Hunter Sustainability Project. Over 100 world leaders attended the People’s Climate March, including Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General to the United Nations. The weekend featured 2,646 solidarity events in 162 countries around the world, and coincided with the United Nations Climate Summit. This brought to light the impact that humans have on larger climate systems and emphasized the urgent need for effective policy and community education to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Environmental and climate change is obviously a major concern for nurses and their patients:
Written by: Ana Paola White
Edited by: Kristine Sy
Photo credit: Benedict Joson
Environmental and climate change is obviously a major concern for nurses and their patients:
- The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that air pollution contributes to 7 million premature deaths worldwide.
- The International Council of Nurses (INC) recognizes that “the healthy lives of people depend ultimately on the health of Planet Earth” and “the nursing profession plays a vital role in mitigating the negative impact of the products used in healthcare and medical waste on the environment” (ICN, 1992, 2002, and 2004).
- The Provision 8 of American Nurses Association’s Code of Ethics for Nurses (ANA, 2001) discusses broader societal health needs, including world hunger and environmental pollution as an ethical imperative. Nurses are, after all, the largest group in the healthcare profession and are capable of making an impact on large-scale community health initiatives.
Written by: Ana Paola White
Edited by: Kristine Sy
Photo credit: Benedict Joson