Cardiovascular nursing and climate change: A call to action

The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ) Cardiovascular Nursing Council has published a Call to Action in a special issue of the academic journal Heart, Lung and Circulation, to bring attention to climate and environmental impact on cardiovascular nursing practice and recommend climate implications be considered in cardiovascular patient care.

Environmental health ultimately determines human health. Environmental hazards such as extreme heat, erosion, pollution, drought, bushfires, floods, dust storms, and tropical cyclones, and their impact on cardiovascular health will increase as our climate deteriorates.

Lead author Professor Sally Inglis, Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney, and recent past-Chair of the CSANZ Cardiovascular Nursing Council says the nursing profession is well placed to lead necessary interdisciplinary planning and adaptation.

“Nurses are the single largest profession in the Australian and New Zealand health workforce, working across primary and acute care services, and providing critical care coordination and service delivery.

“Strategies to optimise nursing preparation, immediate response and adaptation to climate emergencies are crucial to ensure those at greatest risk, including First Nations peoples, are protected from potentially avoidable harm. Professionals who manage climate consequences must also understand the impact of their care on the root cause of the problem.”

Until recently, the association between cardiovascular events and climate change disasters received little attention despite the increased prevalence of acute coronary syndrome presentations to hospital coinciding with extreme events. There is also robust evidence of the physical impact of environmental factors such as air pollution, temperature increases and seasonal variations in heart failure hospitalisations.

Strategies to optimise nursing preparation, immediate response and adaptation to climate emergencies are crucial to ensure those at greatest risk, including First Nations peoples, are protected from potentially avoidable harm.

Professor Sally Inglis

People living with cardiovascular disease and those at risk of cardiovascular disease are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Each one-degree Celsius increase in temperature is associated with a six per cent increase in cardiovascular disease and increases in hospitalisations.

CSANZ Cardiovascular Nursing Council is calling on the healthcare industry to adapt and embed environmental health and disaster preparedness into routine care such as patient education, counselling, pre-discharge assessment and discharge planning.

The new Chair of the CSANZ Cardiovascular Nursing Council and Associate Head of the University of Wollongong School of Nursing Associate Professor Caleb Ferguson said the greatest effect can be achieved through ensuring health care services are resilient, robust and prepared for rapid adaptation in disaster situations.

“We need to actively adapt cardiovascular care and practice to reduce environmental impact and implement environmentally sustainable health systems to reduce our own contribution to climate change.”

Key recommendations of the call to action:

• Harness the power, skill and expertise of the nursing profession who transect acute and primary care to lead change
• Climate hazards and disasters provide acute CVD triggers compounded by social determinants of health. Health impacts are core knowledge for all health care workers
• Urgent practice adaptation so climate-aware assessment, education, discharge planning and care coordination are usual practice
• First Nations people have sovereignty over their response to climate change. Health care is culturally appropriate and understands climate change impact on First Nations peoples
• Vulnerable populations are at greater risk and need targeted preventive actions and support
• Education is the cornerstone to mitigating impact of climate change on health by reducing hazard risks and establishing safety strategies
• Health care is part of the solution and the problem. Professionals who manage climate consequences must also understand the impact of their care on the root cause of the problem

Read the paper: Cardiovascular Nursing and Climate Change: A Call to Action From the CSANZ Cardiovascular Nursing Council, published in the journal Heart, Lung and Circulation.