American Nurses Association's presents the Principles of Environmental Health for Nursing Practice

Since the early years of the profession, nursing leaders such as Florence Nightingale have identified the nurse's role in recognizing the impact of environmental factors on patient health. Nursing practice includes a preventive perspective and is holistic in nature and should advocate for care that promotes both the health of the patient and the environment. Nurses regularly encounter patients with diseases that are caused and/or exacerbated by environmental contaminants. In 1995 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published "Nursing, Health and the Environment" charging nurses with the integration of environmental health knowledge into the nursing profession. Recommendations in the IOM document include detailed suggestions for this integration into nursing practice, research and education, and sites professional associations as having influence that can assist in this effort. In keeping with its history of supporting environmental health initiatives, and in answer to the IOM charge, in 2004 the American Nurses Association's (ANA) House of Delegates passed a resolution titled Creation of Environmental Health Principles for Nursing Practice to be based on the precautionary principle. After much work and collaboration with the nursing community, the ANA is ready to present these principles. This presentation will review the Principles of Environmental Health for Nursing Practice along with interpretive statements. We will present plans to disseminate the principles to the nursing profession. Dissemination of the principles will be targeted at nurses who do clinical nursing, policy work, nursing education and research.