NUR 113: DISASTER NURSING

STUDENT ACTIVITY SHEET BS NURSING / FOURTH YEAR

Session # 15

LESSON TITLE: Climate Change and Health: The Nurse’s Materials:

Role in Policy and Practice
Book, pen and notebook
LEARNING OUTCOMES: References:
Upon completion of this lesson, the nursing student can:
Veenema, T.G. (2019) Disaster Nursing and
1. Define climate change. Emergency Preparedness for Chemical,
2. Describe the real and potential impacts of climate Biological, and Radiological Terrorism and other
change on human health. Hazards 4th Edition
3. Describe the nurse’s role in mitigation and adaptation
efforts to reduce climate change impacts on human
health.
4. List vulnerable population at most risk poor health
outcome related to climate change.

LESSON PREVIEW/REVIEW (5 minutes)

Instruction: What are the 3 elements of Rapid Assessment?

1.
2.
3.

MAIN LESSON (40 minutes)

Climate- is the average weather in a given area.

Climate Change
❖ It is the global phenomenon of climate transformation characterized by the changes in the usual climate of the
planet (regarding temperature, precipitation and wind) that are especially caused by human activities. As a result
of unbalancing the weather of Earth, sustainability of the planet’s ecosystem under threat, as well as the future of
humankind and the stability of the global economy.
❖ NASA’s Definition: A broad change of global phenomena created predominantly by burning fossil fuels, which add
heat-trapping gases on Earth’s atmosphere. These phenomena include the increased temperature trends
described by global warming, but also encompass changes such as sea-level rise, ice mass loss in Greenland,
Antarctica.

Overwhelming Evidence that climate change has contributed to:

• Higher average global temperature and sea levels
• Decreased sea and land use levels
• Change in the precipitation patterns
• Increased frequency of extreme weather events: heat waves, droughts, hurricanes and wildfires
• Heavy pollution
• Shifts in animal and plant habitable
Physical Drivers of Climate Change:
❖ Anthropogenic activity and to a lesser content:

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 - Well mixed Greenhouse gases- carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), H2O
- Ozone, stratosphere water vapor form CN4, Contrails, Aerosol Radiation/ cloud Interaction
❖ Natural origin- changes in solar irradiance, volcanic eruptions, El-Nino Southern Oscillation
Greenhouse gases that human do emit directly in significant quantities are:
1. Carbon dioxide (CO2). Accounts for around three -quarters of the warming impact of current greenhouse-gas
emission. The key source of CO2 is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gas.
2. Methane (CH4). Accounts for around 14% of the impact of current human greenhouse-gas emissions. Key
sources include agriculture (especially livestock and rice fields), fossil fuel extraction and the decay of organic
waste in landfill site. Its warming effect is much more potent for each gram of gas release.
3. Nitrous oxide (N2O). Accounts for 8% of the warming impact of current human greenhouse-gas emissions. Key
sources include agriculture (especially nitrogen fertilized soils and livestock waste and industrial processes. It is
even more potent per gram than methane.
4. Fluorinated gases (“F gases”). Account for around 1% of the warming impact. Key sources are industrial
processes.

Human Activity also changes the planet’s temperature:

• Vapor trails from planes
• Soot from fires
• Tropospheric ozone created by indirect pollution

Selected Health Outcomes:

• Extreme weather events
Wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, heavy rainfall, river flooding, landslides, mudslides and soil erosion caused or
exacerbated by climate change will result injuries, fatalities and illness that can result from post disaster water

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 quality and safety issues and waterborne diseases. Mass shelter care requires a coordinated multiagency
response and surge capacity of health care personnel, placing nurses in multiple roles at the front lines of care.
• Thermal extremes (heat and cold)
Heat-related morbidity and mortality will increase (Schmeltz, Petkova, & Gamble, 2016), caused by air pollution
as well as temperature—fall on children, the elderly, the chronically ill, the obese, people with hypertension
(particularly if taking diuretics), and people taking psychiatric medications. In warm, dry regions and become more
severe increasing the risk to children and to adults with respiratory diseases. Nurses can serve on local, state,
and regional adaptation planning bodies for planning related to extreme heat and poor air quality events, identify
those in their practices who are most risk, including those who work outside in extreme heat
• Vectorborne and zoonotic diseases
Climate change has and will continue to expand the habitats of climate-sensitive vectors, increase them
reproduction rate, and thereby increase the prevalence of diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks, and
rodents. Nurses can and do provide essential roles in these communications: as collaborators for developing
agency health alerts and risk-prevention measures, and as public spokespeople during disease outbreaks.
• Food and waterborne diseases
Climate change–related temperature fluctuations can also affect food- and waterborne infectious diseases, such
as gastritis, which can be fatal in children (EPA, 2018), particularly those who already have other compromising
vulnerabilities and/ or illnesses. Lower-lying coastal regions could experience increased flooding, saltwater
infiltration, severe and harmful algae blooms (HAB) such as Red Tides, thus increasing susceptibility to various
other food- and waterborne diseases. (Rossati, 2017). The expected continuation of global warming will lead to
increased risk of several food and waterborne diseases including those caused by Salmonella, Campylobacter,
Vibrio cholerae, Leptospirosis, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium.

Direct and indirect health effects of climate change:

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Vulnerable and Susceptible Populations:
1. Children: They may smaller body mass to surface area ratio and sensitivity to certain exposures such
heatwaves. Their immune and heating regulatory systems are not fully developed and thus are highly susceptible
to extreme weather events, air pollution, food and waterborne diseases, and vectorborne diseases. School nurses
should be alert who have known medical conditions and require intervention during environmental
health alerts.

2. Elderly: Elderly adults, who often live alone and may have preexisting heart or lung conditions, are especially
susceptible to heat-related illnesses, hyperthermia, heat stress, cardiovascular failure, and dehydration, which
can lead to falls and other injuries. Nurses who practice in areas with a high elderly population can protect this
population by identifying at-risk patients and providing them and their caregivers with guidance about stay-
ing well-hydrated, using home air conditioners, and visiting air-conditioned places and cooling centers.

3. Urban poor: Poorer residents of high-density, heat-trapping urban environment soften have less access to
healthcare and “limited adaptive capacities, such as improved building materials, lack of air conditioning or
ability to access cooling centers and their limited ability to relocate to a less stressed environment” (Ebi, Fawcett,
et al., 2016a). Many of these vulnerable populations are located in flood-prone regions which are at risk of
increased precipitation and sea level rise. Nurses must identify patients who live and work in these communities
and ensure they are aware of their vulnerabilities and, together, create health-risk prevention plans.

4. Mental health: Disasters, including climate- and weather-related ones, can induce in people with and without a
history of mental illness alike, trauma, shock, anxiety, depression, complicated grief, posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), and strains on personal relationships (Trombley, Chalupka, & Anderko, 2017). They can also increase
the incidence of alcohol and substance abuse, homicide, suicide, physical abuse, and spousal abuse. Nurses
should be aware of these potential stressors and be prepared to address them in collaboration with mental health
professionals.

The Nurse’s Role in Climate change:

• Educator
• Research consumer
• Health messenger
• Client advocates
• Leaders
• Change agents
❖ Nurses are vital partners in developing and implementing national and community strategies for protecting
individual and overall community health. Nurses’ advocacy extends to promoting public and policymaker
awareness and preparedness for the fight against the negative health effects of climate change—bringing their
knowledge, skills, and critical thinking to “the greatest global health opportunity of the 21th century”.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING (10 minutes)

You will answer and rationalize this by yourself. This will be recorded as your quiz. One (1) point will be given to correct
answer and another one (1) point for the correct ratio. Superimpositions or erasures in you answer/ratio is not allowed.
You are given 10 minutes for this activity:

Multiple Choice
1. Which is the name of the gas that is responsible for the warning effect from greenhouse gases?
a. Carbon dioxide (CO2)
b. Methane (CH4)
c. Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
d. All of the above

ANSWER: ________
RATIONALE:_______________________________________________________________________________
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 2. What is the main man-made greenhouse gas?
a. CO2
b. CH4
c. N2O

ANSWER: ________
RATIONALE:_______________________________________________________________________________
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3. Things you can do to help decrease global warming include:

a. Keep your air condition on high.
b. Turn off your lights when not using.
c. Keep your freezer door open.
d. Eat more ice cream.

ANSWER: ________
RATIONALE:_______________________________________________________________________________
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4. The likelihood of which extreme weather event is expected to increase with climate change?
a. Heat waves
b. droughts
c. hurricanes
d. all of the above
ANSWER: ________
RATIONALE:_______________________________________________________________________________
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5. Certain gases in the atmosphere: water vapor, CO2, methane and nitrous oxide, help maintain the Earth’s
temperature and climate. These are called:
a. Ozone gases
b. Greenhouse gases
c. Solar gases
d. Stomach gases
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:____________________________________________________________________________________
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RATIONALIZATION ACTIVITY (THIS WILL BE DONE DURING THE FACE TO FACE INTERACTION)
The instructor will now rationalize the answers to the students. You can now ask questions and debate among yourselves.
Write the correct answer and correct/additional ratio in the space provided.
1. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:_______________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:_______________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:_______________________________________________________________________________________
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4. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:_______________________________________________________________________________________
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5. ANSWER: ________
RATIO:_______________________________________________________________________________________
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LESSON WRAP-UP (5 minutes)

You will now mark (encircle) the session you have finished today in the tracker below. This is simply a visual to help you
track how much work you have accomplished and how much work there is left to do.

You are done with the session! Let’s track your progress.

AL Activity: Minute Paper

1) What was the most useful or the most meaningful thing you have learned this session?
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2) What question(s) do you have as we end this session?
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