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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Mary E. Byrd, RN, CS, PhD¹, Ruth Lindberg², Patricia Raymond, RN², Joanne Costello, RN, CS, MPH, MSN¹, Jeanne Schwager, RN, PhD¹, Carol R. Shelton, RN, PhD¹, Patricia Thomas, RN, PhD¹, Kathleen Gremel, RN, MS³, and Esther Jalbert, RN, MSN¹. (1) Department of Nursing, Rhode Island College, 600 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Providence, RI 02908, (2) Family Health, Rhode Island Department of Health, Cannon Building, Three Capitol Hill, Providence, RI 02908, 401-222-2312, RuthL@doh.state.ri.us, (3) School of Nursing, Rhode Island College, 600 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Providence, RI 02908

The right to housing has been declared as essential to the health of families. Historically nursing has realized the vital connection between health and the “dwelling of the population” as emphasized by Florence Nightingale. Today, nurses continue to have the potential to promote the health of the public by incorporating environmental health into their practice. Yet, nursing education programs often lack meaningful theoretical and clinical activities in environmental health. To enhance the abilities of undergraduate public/community health nursing students to conduct home environmental assessments, a one-day clinical experience was developed and implemented in partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Health, Rhode Island College Department of Nursing, and other community agencies. The day begins at the Department of Health with presentations on indoor air quality, injury prevention, asthma, lead, and home inspection. Presenters are public health and environmental health professionals, and from a variety of disciplines such as nursing, medicine, health education, and code enforcement. The afternoon consists of a home visit to a historical home, which functions as a preservation-learning laboratory. First, student groups inspect the “teaching house” for environmental health hazards. Then students tour the house with a code enforcement officer and a nurse who specializes in lead poisoning case management. Lastly, during a follow-up session, students report and discuss their findings and evaluate the experience. Through this experience, students gain practical experience in detecting and managing environmental hazards in the home environment.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session participants will be able to

• Identify the importance of preparing nurses to prevent, recognize, and manage environmental exposure-related disease and injury.
• Describe the learning experiences designed to prepare public health nursing students to conduct environmental assessments of the home.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of these experiences in promoting student's knowledge and abilities to prevent, recognize, and manage environmental exposure-related disease and injury.

Keywords: Nursing Education, Environmental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation