Evidence-based case study materials to support the ANA environmental health nursing practice standard

The recently published (2010) ANA Scope and Standards of Practice includes a standard on environmental health. Nursing faculty will need additional self-development and environmental health materials that address both the nursing practice environment and how to understand and communicate environmental exposures and risks to clients and the general public. Contemporary nursing education will benefit from evidence-based, collaboratively developed and tested case studies that reflect real-life issues. One example is a case study of Lyme disease, which is rampant in the Northeast and upper Midwest. Lyme disease is an exemplar of an infectious disease spread through a vector, the deer tick, that affects individuals of all ages with varying degrees of acute or subacute illness and long-term, sometimes, very debilitating or life-threatening sequelae. The case study illustrates how one clinical case or several of an environmental illness should serve as a sentinel health event, and furthermore, explores primary preventive measures appropriate to population-focused public health nursing practice. The Community Outreach and Engagement Cores (COEC) of the NIEHS Centers at Harvard School of Public Health and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in collaboration with the Superfund Research Translation Core at Boston University and the COEC at the University of North Carolina, have developed several case studies for undergraduate nursing education. The presentation and discussion will include lessons learned related to • choosing relevant topics, • developing a case study format, • articulating with NCLEX and ANA Scope and Standards of Practice Guidelines, • documenting the evidence base, and • pilot-testing cases in the classroom.