Environmental health nursing assessment tools and resources for community-based agencies and organizations

Public health nurses work in partnership with a wide array of agencies and organizations providing essential services for community residents. Many of these organizations can unknowingly place people and the community at risk for exposure to environmental hazards. It can occur in everything from service-delivery, to facilities construction and management, purchasing practices, and waste disposal. While focusing on different population groups and providing varying services to the community, schools, churches, early childhood education and day care centers, and nonprofit service agencies are well positioned to engage in risk reduction and environmental stewardship that can improve the community's health. These agencies can provide essential environmental information and serve as role models to those they serve and to the community-at-large. If equipped with appropriate tools and resources, PHNs can collaborate with agencies and organizations to assess the environment and facilitate change that will reduce risk of hazardous exposure and will foster environmental stewardship to protect and improve health. These tools and resources must be simple to use and aligned with a particular agency's mission, target population, programs, and services. The Environmental Health Education Center (EHEC) of the University of Maryland School of Nursing is a repository of existing tools for agencies and serves as a resource for guiding and developing agency-appropriate new ones. Many tools have been tested and actively utilized through PHN faculty practices and public/community health nursing clinical experiences. Over time, they are being incorporated into everyday use by agencies and organizations in Maryland and elsewhere, and new tools are being developed. This session will share information about environmental health collaborative partnerships with community agencies and organizations and tools and resources for agency use in reducing environmental health risks and promoting environmental stewardship.