Online Program

336253
Using ToxNet for evidence-based environmental health and nursing


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 3:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Barbara Sattler, RN, DrPH, FAAN, School of Nursing and Health Professionals, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Nurses are increasingly being asked questions by individuals and the communities they serve about the relationship between the environment and human health such as, could pesticide exposures have caused my child’s autism; how can fracking affect our community's health?  If nurses are going to provide answers that are evidence-based, we must be facile in accessing reputable sources of information and the literature. Through its ToxNet programs, the National Library of (NLM) has created a dynamic set of databases and informational sources.  In collaboration with NLM librarians, university librarians and nursing faculty a new educational program was created that uses case studies to teach nurses how to access the peer-reviewed research literature, government reports, zip code-related exposure information, and environmental health tutorials.   The cases include a children’s environmental health issue, agricultural exposures to pesticides, exposures to pregnant women, and community-wide exposures to chemicals associated with fracking.   The new tool has been vetted by nursing faculty, nursing students, and practicing nurses who found the program informative and relevant to their practice.   In addition to learning about the resource tools, the nurses learned important environmental health content.   Given that the latest Scope and Standards of Nursing Practice includes an Environmental Health Standard of Practice, it is critical that all nurses have the tools and knowledge to integrate environmental health into their nursing education, practice, research and policy/advocacy.

Learning Areas:

Communication and informatics
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Design a search for peer-reviewed studies using the National Library of Medicine's ToxNet resources

Keyword(s): Environmental Health, Chemical Exposures & Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Professor at a university where I teach environmental health. I have been working on, speaking, and publishing about environmental health for over 30 years. I have been on EPA, NLM, and CDC advisory committees.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.