Population and Global

​Health​ Committee

(Formerly named the Community Health & Disaster Preparedness Committee.
​Currently combined with former committee, Global Initiatives in Nursing)

"E.D.G.E. (Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, Enable)"

Jaleighya Townsend 
 Director
Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University 
​Atlanta, GA ​
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What is the Role of the
​Population and Global Health Committee?

The committee's role is to disseminate information to the membership about worldwide improvement of health, reduction of disparities, protection against global health threats, and disaster preparedness.

Jaleighya Townsend, Director and Chair,
​Population and Global Health Committee
Winter-Spring Memo

Greetings NSNA Members,

Happy spring semester! I hope your semesters are off to a great start as we kick things off with some steam as we approach the Annual Convention. The Population and Global Health Committee (PGHC) is continuing to uphold its theme, “EDGE.” Through our PGHC initiatives, we are striving to promote healthy lifestyles through exercise, nutrition, healthy habits, and encompass education/prevention of obesity through diabetes management with an emphasis on insulin education, and providing tools to advocate for mental health normalcy through education and awareness. Remember we have 3 quarterly awards left that support these initiatives and highlight your involvement.

​❖ 2nd quarter (Dec-Feb): Advocacy to Educate about Healthy Climate and Environmental Health Projects 
  • Submit via JotForm (Opens in Feb) and extra bonus if a poster is created for the 69th Annual Convention.
❖ 3rd quarter (March-May): Mental Health Education in Uncertain Times Projects
❖ 4th Quarter (June-August): Addressing Health Disparities and Inequalities Projects

Read More

What nursing students need to know about the COVID-19 Vaccine

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Perhaps you are not on the front lines today—but you will be in the future. Nursing students have a role to play in both being vaccinated and educating others about the vaccine. You may even be helping to vaccinate the public as a volunteer and for clinical credit.

For every vaccine administered across the country, in most instances, there will be a nurse on the other side of the syringe. "Whether in hospitals, or making logistical decisions behind the scenes, nurses will be the driving force of distribution efforts in the United States, providing immeasurable value and needed perspective from the boardroom to the bedside and everywhere in between," said Dr. Stephen Ferrara, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP, Interim Executive Director, Jonas Nursing & Veterans Healthcare. "Consistently ranked by the public as the most trusted profession in the healthcare landscape, nurses are in a unique position to provide the public with the facts during this time of confusion."

For the public, nurses represent the face of this vaccine. Working together, we have the power to educate our families, patients, peers, colleagues, and friends about vaccination and safety measures.

First step is to learn as much as you can about the vaccine so that you are ready to answer questions.  One target audience for vaccine education is your fellow college students. Get your chapter involved. Look at these trusted resources to begin learning more.

For more information click here.

Upcoming Population and Global Health Committee
​Quarterly Awards

  • 2nd quarter (Dec-Feb): Advocacy to Educate about Healthy Climate and Environmental Health Projects
    Submit via JotForm (Opens in Feb) and extra bonus if a poster is created for the 69th Annual Convention
  • 3rd quarter (March-May): Mental Health Education in Uncertain Times Projects  
  • 4th Quarter (June-August): Addressing Health Disparities and Inequalities Projects

Climate Action

Applications for the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments' Health Equity + Anti-racism (HEAR) Leadership Institute 

Recognizing the need for nurses and nursing students to center anti-racism and health equity while taking leadership in environmental health and in their professional settings, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is holding the Health Equity + Anti-Racism (HEAR) Leadership Institute. The HEAR Leadership Institute will run from May through September 2021 and include 4 virtual workshops, small group collaboration, and coaching. This program is open to all nurses and nursing students interested and passionate in taking leadership around health equity and anti-racism! Applications are now open. The deadline to apply is March 19th.
NSNA continues to focus on climate actions by providing education, opportunities for individual involvement, and highlighting many issues that affect population health, including communicable and non-communicable diseases, climate change, natural disasters, socio-economic inequalities, and everything in between. These factors impact health and our healthcare.

As NSNA members and future nurses, you can learn about how you can prevent certain issues and how to protect our patients; you can even raise awareness among patients and your communities. NSNA wants to connect you with Climate for Health (CfH) and Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) so you can understand the relationship between human health and environments in which we live, learn, work, and play.

NSNA continues to stay focused on raising awareness on several of the resolutions passed by the House of Delegates over the last two years.
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These resolutions include:
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IN SUPPORT OF INCREASING AWARENESS OF PROPER DISPOSAL OF HOME-GENERATED PHARMACEUTICAL AND SHARPS WASTE

IN SUPPORT OF INCREASING AWARENESS OF THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON MENTAL HEALTH

IN SUPPORT OF IMPROVING MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT DUE TO CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL AND PERSONAL HEALTH
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Climate change is affecting our health now, and as nursing students you can be a leader in climate solutions and NSNA will continue to provide you the resources and support through CfH and ANHE.
Nurses, who are one of the most trusted sources of information by the public, must be in a position to both respond to questions about the environment and its relationship to health with credible, evidence-based information, as well as provide leadership in making the necessary changes in our policies and practices. To that end we must prepare nurses to be a cut above the average citizen with regard to their knowledge of environmental health issues. 

The Mission of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE): Promoting healthy people and healthy environments by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating evidence-based practice, and influencing policy. 
Climate for Health is a national initiative led by a diverse network of health leaders from across the health sector representing key health care, public health, clinical, and medical institutions and associations.  Founded by ecoAmerica, Climate for Health offers tools, resources, and communications to demonstrate visible climate leadership, inspiring and empowering health leaders to speak about, act on and advocate for climate solutions. Climate for Health and its partners agree to this Vision, Principles and Commitment Statement for climate solutions, action, and advocacy. 

Listen to your fellow NSNA Members and a past NSNA Board Member on the 
ANHE Student Committee Podcast!

ANHE launched the inaugural Student Nurse Committee in 2020 with a group of 8 pre-licensure student nurses from across the United States. This year, the student-driven and led group had the opportunity to explore their passion around environmental health, to engage in peer learning and sharing, and to develop educational materials geared to nurses, nursing students, and community members around environmental health. As part of their participation in the committee, the student nurses worked on projects focused on composting and environmental injustices. The 2020 student nurse members will rotate off the committee and we will be starting with a brand new group in 2021!

Nursing Collaborative on Climate Change and Health

NSNA has joined the Nursing Collaborative on Climate Change and Health. Goals include: Elevate climate change as a visible health priority: the Collaborative will make the connection between climate and human health and prioritize the need to advance acclimate protective strategies to protect health a core part of our mission.
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Create a climate literate nursing community: the Collaborative will act as a resource in promoting the education and ability of nurses to deliver effective evidence-based climate and health communication by providing guides and guidance and incorporating climate in all our gatherings and resources.
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Read more . . .

Nursing Collaborative on Climate Change and Health Resources:

Nurses Drawdown
​A project of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments and Project Drawdown

At the heart of Nursing is the understanding that optimal health requires good nutrition, adequate mobility, a healthy environment, and social support. Together, nurses around the globe can help to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and create a healthier future for humans and the rest of the planet. 
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Through our commitment to the evidence-based Nurses Drawdown actions, nurses will improve the health of individuals and communities, while also taking steps to heal the planet. We together have the power to significantly impact climate change. Join Us.
 
For more information on Nurses Drawdown visit: https://www.nursesdrawdown.org/

Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change

The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change is an international research collaboration that monitors and reports annually on the relationship between health and climate, and its implications for national governments. It was launched following the 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change, which concluded that unmitigated climate change would undermine 50 years of public health gains, but that responding to climate change could represent “the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century.”

Each year, a special companion U.S. Brief is released alongside the global report that aims to draw out the most nationally relevant findings to highlight the key threats and opportunities climate change poses for health in the United States. One intended audience for the Brief is U.S. policymakers, so it includes a list of policy recommendations that aim to protect human health from the climate crisis. The Brief is developed in partnership with the American Public Health Association and a working group of experts in the climate and health field.

This year’s Lancet Countdown global report and the U.S. Brief will be publicly released on November 13, 2019 at 6:30 PM EST (11:30 PM GMT). In celebration of the release, join us at the launch event on November 18, 2019 at the Russell Senate Office Building, Kennedy Caucus Room in Washington, D.C. starting at 10:00 AM EST. 
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The public launch aims to provide a critical platform for key medical professionals, public health experts, researchers and policymakers to discuss national, state, and local policies that can reduce the impacts of climate change on the health of people living in the U.S. Keynote speakers include 19th Surgeon General of the U.S., Dr. Vivek Murthy, and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, ranking member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee along with a presentation by authors of the Lancet Countdown Global Report and U.S. Brief. For more details about the launch event and this year’s report, check out www.lancetcountdownus.org.

A Hot Topic: Climate and Nursing
Dr. Barbara Sattler, Professor
University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California
Plenary Session - April 6, 2018
66th Annual Convention - Nashville, Tennessee

The Future of Nursing 2020-2030

The National Academies of Sciences - Engineering - Medicine
The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 Philadelphia Town Hall - University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
July 24, 2019

​Invited Comments Presented by:
Elise Krikorian, Director and Chair, Population and Global Health Committee, National Student Nurses Association; Junior Nursing Student, Penn State University
Please see below to read Elise Krikorian's write-up of this opportunity. 

“Over this summer, I was given the opportunity to represent the National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) at the Future of Nursing Town Hall Event in Philadelphia and participate in NSNA’s Leadership Conference. Being able to speak with many nursing leaders and connect with students all over the country, I was once again inspired by the impact nurses can have. Read More
Submit Your International Experiences

​​Have you traveled overseas, experienced the need for cultural competence, or encountered global health issues?  The Population and Global Health Committee is looking for students with personal experiences to feature on our web page!  Please email nsna@nsna.org attn: Sarah with your topic for approval.

Check out the International Council of Nurses

​The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of 135 national nursing associations representing millions of nurses worldwide.  Operated  by nurses and leading  nursing internationally, ICN works to ensure quality nursing care for all and sound health policies globally.  Connect with nurses  around the globe, expand your horizons and start or continue a discussion on issues of interest to nursing students.

Join the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Student Network
Connect with nursing students from around the globe on the ICN Student Network! Expand your horizons and start or continue a discussion on issues of interest to nursing students. 

​Imprint Articles:
  • ​​​​​Providing Care and Health Education in Eleuthera
  • Global Initiatives in Nursing
  • Mission: A Summer in India

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