Climate change is an urgent public health issue that is impacting health locally and across the world. Healthcare professionals are on the front lines for public health, caring for people affected by climate change; yet few studies have assessed their knowledge and experiences of local climate change effects. The purpose of this study was to improve our understanding of the health impacts of climate change in Minnesota from the perspective of healthcare professionals. An electronic survey was administered by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to a convenience sample of Board-certified nurses and physicians in Minnesota. Seventy-five percent of respondents agreed that climate change is happening, and 60% agreed that it is currently impacting the health of their patients. However, only 21% felt well prepared to discuss climate change, and only 4% discussed climate change with all or most of their patients. Similarly, results from open-ended questions highlighted the importance of climate change and acknowledged the challenges of discussing this topic. While most respondents recognized the health impacts of climate change, they also reported feeling uncomfortable discussing climate change with patients. Thus, there is an opportunity to develop targeted resources to support healthcare professionals in addressing climate change.

The Public Health Crisis Is Planetary—and Nursing Is Crucial to Addressing It, an article from American Journal of Public Health, Vol 112 Issue S3

Traditionally, we would have considered biodiversity loss, increasing severity and frequency of natural disasters, more frequent infectious disease outbreaks, and increased human migration around the world as disparate issues requiring unique solutions. We are now realizing that the health of humans and the health of the planet are interconnected, and that the Earth's natural systems that support life are in critical jeopardy. Planetary health needs to be a core component of nursing education and practice. Several conditions make this the perfect time for transformative change. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the deep connection between the human health and the health of the planet and illuminated the need for global solutions that are both sustainable and equitable. The Future of Nursing 2020 – 2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity report acknowledged the urgent need to address climate change. The new American Association of Colleges of Nursing essentials for nursing education supports transformation of nursing curricula. Finally, the recent publication of a global transdisciplinary framework for planetary health education offers nursing a blueprint for education and practice.

Climate change is having unprecedented impacts on human health, including increasing infectious disease risk. Despite this, health systems across the world are currently not prepared for novel disease scenarios anticipated with climate change. While the need for health systems to develop climate change adaptation strategies has been stressed in the past, there is no clear consensus on how this can be achieved, especially in rural areas in low- and middle-income countries that experience high disease burdens and climate change impacts simultaneously. Here, we highlight the need to put health systems in the context of climate change and demonstrate how this can be achieved by taking into account all aspects of infectious disease risk (i.e., pathogen hazards, and exposure and vulnerability to these pathogen hazards). The framework focuses on rural communities in East Africa since communities in this region experience climate change impacts, present specific vulnerabilities and exposure to climate-related hazards, and have regular exposure to a high burden of infectious diseases. Implementing the outlined approach can help make health systems climate adapted and avoid slowing momentum towards achieving global health grand challenge targets.