Canadian Association of
Nurses for the Environment
Association canadienne des infirmières
et infirmiers pour l'environnement
Canadian Association of
Nurses for the Environment
Association canadienne des infirmières
et infirmiers pour l'environnement
Recommended open access scholarly work conducted by CANE-ACIIE members and colleagues related to planetary health, nursing, and healthcare.
by Émilie Tremblay & Sandra Harrisson
Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry, 2026, 50(1), 1–26.
DOI: 10.1007/s11013-026-09974-3
This study examines climate change-related emotional responses among young adults engaged in climate activism and an intergenerational group of non-activists through an ecofeminist lens, which highlights interconnected oppression within patriarchal societies. The objectives were to understand how environmental decline influences young adults’ climate engagement, thoughts, actions, and behaviors and to describe the emotional and psychological impacts of the climate crisis on both young adults and the intergenerational group.
by Rob Samulack, Kimberly LeBlanc, & Teri Forster
Canadian Nurse, July 20, 2026
https://www.canadian-nurse.com/blogs/cn-content/2026/07/20/planetary-health-forefront-public-discourse
Canada marked the first National Day of Action on Planetary Health on October 6, 2025. The Globe and Mail and the Canadian Medical Association hosted an inspirational event aimed at implementing the Roadmap for Planetary Health and Sustainable Health Systems for Canadian Medical Professionals. Health leaders from across Canada attended the event, including the authors of this article. We’ve written this follow-up article to help ensure that planetary health is kept at the forefront of public discourse year-round.
by June Kaminski
Canadian Nurse, June 15, 2026
https://www.canadian-nurse.com/blogs/cn-content/2026/06/15/optimizing-prescribed-inhaler-use
Optimizing inhaler use begins with understanding the individual patient’s treatment needs. Factors such as age, comorbidities, cognitive function, dexterity, socioeconomic status, and cultural background all affect the suitability and effectiveness of different inhaler types. Nurses play a vital role in supporting effective, safe, and environmentally responsible inhaler use
by Agnes T. Black and Kaitlin Bloemberg
Canadian Nurse, April 22, 2025
https://www.canadian-nurse.com/blogs/cn-content/2025/04/22/promoting-planetary-health
What exactly is planetary health? How can we, as nurses, work to promote the health of the planet and the people on it? In a recent statement, the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) and the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment (CANE) called on nurses to respond to the climate emergency by integrating planetary health into all domains of nursing practice: education, research, advocacy and policy.
by Maya R Kalogirou and Jennifer Baumbusch
Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 2025, 17, 269—284.
https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S517669
This study was done so that we could better understand how Canadian hospitals support planetary health, specifically through green teams and sustainability offices. Overall, there are good reasons for Canadian hospitals to have both a sustainability office and a green team as they focus on slightly different planetary health initiatives.
by Émilie Tremblay and Sandra Harrisson
Nursing Inquiry, 2025, 32, (3), e70035.
https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.70035
This paper presents an overview of the health impacts associated with anthropogenic climate change and examines the interconnection between human health and the environment. It highlights the nursing profession’s stance on environmental issues, drawing attention to the disengagement of nurses from advocacy initiatives related to climate change and how this relates to the nursing metaparadigm.
by Jacqueline Avanthay Strus, Joshitha Sankam, Samantha Green, Mckenzie Piper, Sabrina Richards, Kasey Knowles, Katie North, Leslie Solomonian
The Journal of Climate Change and Health, 2025, 22, 100440.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2025.100440
Climate-related adverse health outcomes are on the rise worldwide, and primary health care providers are at the forefront of the growing climate-health crisis. There is an urgent need for a codification of solutions and strategies for adaptation, resilience, and transformation in primary health care. This scoping review sought to answer the following research question: “What strategies are being implemented across all forms of primary health care to adapt to and address the climate crisis?”
by Alysha T Jones
Masters Thesis, University of Northern British Columbia, Master of Science in Nursing.
https://unbc.arcabc.ca/graduate-research-projects/3471
This project is intended to advance a Canadian perspective in environmental justice nursing scholarship. Additionally, it is intended to contribute to the discourse and praxis of equity-oriented planetary health nursing. The central question guiding this project is: How can Canadian nursing integrate environmental justice into its sphere of concern, particularly in the context of developing equity-oriented planetary health praxis?
by Barbara Astle
Quality Advancement in Nursing Education - Avancées En Formation infirmière, 10, 2024, (4), Article 7.
https://doi.org/10.17483/2368-6669.1482
During the past decade, planetary health has emerged as a scientific field of practice and global movement in response to the major disruptions to our world, such as catastrophic floods, droughts, wildfires, heat domes, and extreme heat, affecting the health and well-being of humans and the planet. The concept of planetary health has been increasingly acknowledged by Canadian nurse educators, and globally, about the importance for integration in baccalaureate and graduate nursing curricula. In 2022, the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing updated its National Nursing Education Framework to include planetary health.
by Melanie Perroux, Hélène Gayraud, Fiona Hanley & Amélie Contreras-Salois
Quality Advancement in Nursing Education - Avancées En Formation infirmière, 10, 2024, (4), Article 6.
https://doi.org/10.17483/2368-6669.1466
Despite calls for nurses to be trained, there are few data on strategies used to incorporate climate change issues into university curricula. A narrative literature review of 45 articles addressing educational practices related to the fight against climate change was conducted. The Implementation Research Logic Model guided the analysis of 1) aspects of the articles’ respective contexts that are favorable or unfavorable determinants; 2) incorporation strategies that have been deployed; 3) action mechanisms that have been used; and 4) expected outcomes.
by Shannon Y. Vandenberg, Tracy A. Oosterbroek, Andrea Chircop & Peter Kellett
Quality Advancement in Nursing Education - Avancées En Formation infirmière, 10, 2024, (4), Article 2.
https://doi.org/10.17483/2368-6669.1434
Climate change is considered a public health emergency in Canada, and nurses must respond to health-related challenges faced by Canadians. The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) Guidelines for Undergraduate Nursing Education on Climate-Driven Vector-Borne Diseases provide a comprehensive framework to guide nurses to address these challenges.
by Barbara Astle & Lucie Richard
Quality Advancement in Nursing Education - Avancées En Formation infirmière, 10, 2024, (4), Article 1.
https://doi.org/10.17483/2368-6669.1538
With the evolving triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss that humanity is facing (UN Climate Change, n.d.), health care professionals, including nurses, urgently need to demonstrate proactivity and resilience within this everyday reality. Alongside this crisis, the frequencies of wildfires, severe droughts and flooding, natural disasters, and extreme heat have increased globally, directly affecting the health and well-being of humans and the planet.
by Zachary Daly, Raluca Radu & Emily K. Jenkins
Quality Advancement in Nursing Education - Avancées En Formation infirmière, 10, 2024, (4), Article 4.
https://doi.org/10.17483/2368-6669.1471
The concept of planetary health draws nurses’ attention to environmental disruptions, including climate change, that threaten the health of humans and our broader ecosystems. Among the many deleterious consequences of climate change are its adverse effects on mental health. These impacts have been identified in communities across Canada, with some groups disproportionately affected. As such, this topic ought to be integrated into undergraduate or pre-licensure curricula delivered to all nursing students, regardless of eventual practice setting.
by Hannah Rempel, Maya R. Kalogirou, Sherry Dahlke, Kathleen F. Hunter
Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2024, Advanced online.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.16094
Aim: To understand nurses’ personal and professional experiences with the heat dome, drought and forest fires of 2021 and how those events impacted their perspectives on climate action.
Design: A naturalistic inquiry using qualitative description with twelve nurses from the interior of BC.
by Alysha T Jones, Émilie Tremblay, Anne-Lise Costeux, Jacqueline Avanthay Strus, Adrienne Barcket
BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth, 2024, 24(1), 680.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-024-06761-z
Objectives
This rapid review is designed to identify existing tools in the Canadian literature that assess the impacts of climate change on the health of perinatal families, particularly those who are equity-denied. Addressing the needs of equity-denied perinatal populations in the face of climate change is crucial to promoting equitable and inclusive perinatal care in Canada.
by Shannon Vandenberg, Jacqueline Avanthay Strus, Andrea Chircop, Amanda Egert, Julie Savard
Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2024; 0:1–36
(1), 1-36.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.16570
Impact: This scoping review revealed a clear and urgent call to action for nurses to address planetary health. Given this finding, nurses have a responsibility to advocate for a planetary health approach in the profession and take action to contribute to planetary health through education, research, practice and advocacy.
by Zachary Daly, Kaitlin Bloemberg, & Caroline Murphy
Canadian Nurse, April 2, 2024.
https://www.canadian-nurse.com/blogs/cn-content/2024/04/02/how-climate-change-can-impact-your-patients
We are nurses, from varied backgrounds, who care deeply about the issue of climate change. As has been made clear in Health Canada’s recent report, Health of Canadians in a Changing Climate (2022), climate change, driven largely by human activities and greenhouse gas emissions, is already impacting the health of people living in Canada, through such events as extreme heat, floods, and wildfires.
by Joanna Law, Sherry Dahlke, Maya R. Kalogirou
International Journal of Nursing Student Scholarship, 2023, 10, Article # 82.
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/
ijnss/article/view/77493
Objective: To identify the factors that contribute to the success of environmentally sustainable initiatives in health care.
Methods: In this study, an integrative review of the literature was performed. Nurses are encouraged to engage in climate action by creating, leading, or participating in green teams to enact environmental sustainability initiatives.
by Zerina Lokmic-Tomkins, Jacqueline Avanthay Strus, June Kaminski, Shauna Davies
Contemporary Nurse, 2023, 59, (3), 185-188.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10376178.2023.2220422
As we delved into our editorial on nurses as leaders in planetary health initiatives, we were eager to highlight real-life examples. However, to our surprise, it proved to be a challenging task. While we were aware of many outstanding projects led by nurses, they often did not explicitly identify themselves as such or mention their RN titles. The fact that some nurses working in the field of planetary health do not identify themselves by their RN titles begs the question of why, as this could be hindering the recognition of this field as a vital aspect of the nursing profession.
by Alysha T. Jones
Canadian Nurse, October 3, 2023.
https://www.canadian-nurse.com/blogs/cn-content/2023/10/03/unseen-inequity-environmental-racism
Nursing scholarship and practice has been historically complicit in the (re)production of racial inequities by not acknowledging and countering their part in the legacy of colonization . This paper will discuss the implementation of an experiential transformative learning project, RéconciliACTION, grounded in critical social justice theory. Four elements – testimonial authority, experiential learning, reciprocity, and relationality – can be implemented in nursing education.
by Jacqueline Avanthay Strus, Dave Holmes, Chad Hammond, Brianna Hammond
Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health, 2023, 1, (3), 108-135.
https://doi.org/10.33137/tijih.v1i3.38435
Nursing scholarship and practice has been historically complicit in the (re)production of racial inequities by not acknowledging and countering their part in the legacy of colonization . This paper will discuss the implementation of an experiential transformative learning project, RéconciliACTION, grounded in critical social justice theory. Four elements – testimonial authority, experiential learning, reciprocity, and relationality – can be implemented in nursing education.
by June Kaminski
Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics, 2023, 18, (1)
https://cjni.net/journal/?p=10851
Issues of technological redundancy and unsustainability, dealing with alarming waste from digital products (e-waste), the carbon footprint elicited by peak power and bandwidth use, and use of rare or non-renewable resources (e.g., precious, and critical metals) are important aspects of technology’s environmental impact.
by Alysha T Jones and Jacqueline Avanthay Strus
Witness: The Canadian Journal of Critical Nursing Discourse, 2022, 4 (2), 31-41.
https://doi.org/10.25071/2291-5796.135
In this paper, we propose that community health nursing is a promising context for ecologically inclusive and “place-sensitive” nursing practice. With a strong grounding in social justice, we believe that Canadian community health nurses have the power to create a differential space of research and practice for environmental justice and planetary health thereby challenging harmful anthropocentric and biomedical models of health and health care.
by Barbara Astle, Meghann Buyco, Ikponwosa, Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham
The Journal of Climate Change and Health, 2022, 9, 100190.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2022.100190
Multiple planetary challenges face humanity, including climate change, and biodiversity loss. Climate change is considered the greatest health threat of the 21st century. People living with disability, poverty, and unemployment are further structurally and disproportionately impacted by the projected devastating effects of climate change. Such vulnerable populations include Persons with Albinism (PWA) whose health and well-being are impacted by the rising temperatures and increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
by Joanna Law, Maya R. Kalogirou, Sherry Dahlke
Witness: The Canadian Journal of Critical Nursing Discourse, 2021, 3(2), 36–46.
https://doi.org/10.25071/2291-5796.105
Organizations and academics have issued a call to action for health care workers to mitigate climate change and promote environmental sustainability. Nurses are an integral part of health care systems but have been delayed in answering this call. In this paper we argue that nurses are particularly well suited to mitigating climate change in health care systems because their existing role is central to patient care.
by Wanda Martin and June Kaminski
Witness: The Canadian Journal of Critical Nursing Discourse, 2021, 3(2), 1-5.
https://doi.org/10.25071/2291-5796.119
As we see it, there are two main areas for nurses to consider in preparing the healthcare system for an unpredictable future and prevention work to support future generations. The first is for nurses and the wider population to understand that climate and environmental sustainability are nurses’ work. The second is for nurses, as health leaders, to come together with a powerful voice and contribute to the other voices calling for a shift in how we operate as a society
by Lindsey Vold and Megan Meszaros
Witness: The Canadian Journal of Critical Nursing Discourse, 2021, 3(2), 18–35.
https://doi.org/10.25071/2291-5796.113
Calls for nursing action to address climate change are resounding throughout the nursing community, yet many nurses feel ill-prepared to engage in climate action. As a collective practice discipline, nursing is beginning to take steps to address climate change. We present how nurses can engage in coordinated and collaborative efforts both within and outside of ‘traditional’ nursing practice to address the connecting and complicated pathways of a changing climate.
by Carlos A Faerron Guzmán, A Alonso Aguirre, Barbara Astle, Enrique Barros, Brett Bayles, Moses Chimbari, Naglaa El-Abbadi, Jessica Evert, Finola Hackett, Courtney Howard, Jonathan Jennings, Amy Krzyzek, Jessica LeClair, Filip Maric, Olwenn Martin, Odipo Osano, Jonathan Patz, Teddie Potter, Nicole Redvers, Noortje Trienekens, Sarah Walpole, Lynda Wilson, Chenchen Xu, Matthew Zylstra
The Lancet. Planetary Health, 2021, 55), e253–e255.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00110-8
People around the world are increasingly facing the pressing challenges of today’s interconnected environmental, social, and health crises. The emerging field of planetary health is a framework for understanding these interconnections and identifying solutions to the complex challenges confronting our civilization. Building on the unique role and responsibility of education institutions in shaping our futures, embedding planetary health education in curricula is an essential step to achieving the transformative change needed.
by Maya R. Kalogirou
Faculty of Nursing,
University of Alberta
PhD Dissertation, 2020.
https://era.library.ualberta.ca/
items/871c655a-8d5e-49e5-803c-fd1282e7175a
Aim: The purpose of this study was to answer the following question: What are Albertan nurses’ beliefs related to climate change, health, and nursing practice, and how is their ability to practice in an environmentally responsible manner influenced by their workplace setting?
Methods: A focused ethnography was conducted with nurses working in three medicine units and the emergency room (n=22).
