4390 - Test 2 - Environmental Health,
Cultural Health Questions and All
Accurate Answers.
Environmental Health Objectives - Answer •Explain how the environment influences human
health and disease.
•Describe the skills needed by nurses practicing in environmental health and apply the nursing
process to the practice of environmental health.
•Describe how the national health objectives for the year 2020 target environmental health.
•Describe strategies for nursing collaboration and participation in efforts to promote and
protect environmental health.
Environmental Health Introduction - Answer •Life and the quality of life depend on the
quality of the environment
•Healthy environment is essential for optimal health and health care
•Chemical, biological and radiological exposures affect our health
•Nurses need to know how to assess for environmental health risks and implement preventive
interventions
Why should nurses know about environmental health? - Answer 1.. Environmental factors
have an impact on health:
•Smog and cardiovascular/respiratory diseases
•Children's exposure to lead
•Prenatal exposures
•Heat waves and elderly patients
•Women choosing to bottle feed because of contaminants in breast milk
•Concerns of mercury in fish
•Indoor air quality and asthma
•Emergency planning
•Commitment to social justice
•2. Nurses are very, very good at teaching about health
•This skill supports work in protecting individuals, families and communities from
environmental hazards
•
•3. Nurses are the largest professional group working in healthcare
•Working together we can be a powerful force for making improvements in the environment
,Human Health and the Environment - Answer Environmental Health is the branch of public
health science that focuses on how the environment influences human health
Exposure occurs when there is contact between people and an environmental contaminant
Healthy People 2020 for Environmental Health - Answer •Objectives for environmental
health
•Priority area
•Relationship between health and environmental risks
•Underlying factors contributing to disease
History of Enviornmental Health - Answer •People did not often clearly understand the links
between environment and health and did not recognize that humans influenced their
environment.
•F. Nightingale: "Mother of Biostatistics"
•Lillian Wald worked to improve the environment of the Henry Street Settlement neighborhood
•Quality of the environment became a popular topic in the mid- to late 20th century.
•Environmental Health is one of priority areas of Healthy People 2010/2020
Questions about Environmental Health - Answer •How certain contaminants affect human
health?
•How to assess exposures to contaminants?
•How the environment influences health?
•How to live as a population while maintaining a healthy environment?
The Community Environment - Answer Environment and its effect on human health is often
considered in the following two ways:
•How contaminants in the environment, such as asbestos, lead, or radon, influence human
health.
•How the entire environment surrounding the community, such as neighborhood safety,
climate, access to grocery stores, and community design, affects health.
, Nurses perform windshield surveys as a first step to assess potential environmental health risks
in the community
Precautionary Principle and Environmental Health - Answer Maintains that if something has
the potential to cause harm to the environment or humans, then precautionary measures
should be taken if there is a lack of scientific evidence concerning cause and effect
Toxicology and Environment Health - Answer •Toxicology- the basic science that studies the
health effects associated with chemical exposures
•Pollution can enter our bodies via lungs (inhalation), gastrointestinal tract (ingestion), skin and
mucous membranes (dermal)
•Chemicals can cross placenta
•Age, weight, other drugs taken and underlying health status can affect response to
environmental exposure
Four Environmental Principles - Answer 1. Everything is connected to everything else
2. Everything has to go somewhere
3. The solution to pollution is dilution
4. Today's solution may be tomorrow's problem as inreased information becomes avaliable
Environmental Health Assessment - Answer •Assess home, school, workplace and
community
•Key questions should cover past as well as present conditions
•Determine whether an exposure is in the air, water, soil or food
•Windshield survey
•Environmental databases
•Environmental assessment forms
Consider unintended environmental expos
Exposure Asessment and Environmental Health - Answer •Exposure pathway - method by
which people are exposed to an environmental contaminant that originates from a specific
source (skin, oral, inhalation)
Cultural Health Questions and All
Accurate Answers.
Environmental Health Objectives - Answer •Explain how the environment influences human
health and disease.
•Describe the skills needed by nurses practicing in environmental health and apply the nursing
process to the practice of environmental health.
•Describe how the national health objectives for the year 2020 target environmental health.
•Describe strategies for nursing collaboration and participation in efforts to promote and
protect environmental health.
Environmental Health Introduction - Answer •Life and the quality of life depend on the
quality of the environment
•Healthy environment is essential for optimal health and health care
•Chemical, biological and radiological exposures affect our health
•Nurses need to know how to assess for environmental health risks and implement preventive
interventions
Why should nurses know about environmental health? - Answer 1.. Environmental factors
have an impact on health:
•Smog and cardiovascular/respiratory diseases
•Children's exposure to lead
•Prenatal exposures
•Heat waves and elderly patients
•Women choosing to bottle feed because of contaminants in breast milk
•Concerns of mercury in fish
•Indoor air quality and asthma
•Emergency planning
•Commitment to social justice
•2. Nurses are very, very good at teaching about health
•This skill supports work in protecting individuals, families and communities from
environmental hazards
•
•3. Nurses are the largest professional group working in healthcare
•Working together we can be a powerful force for making improvements in the environment
,Human Health and the Environment - Answer Environmental Health is the branch of public
health science that focuses on how the environment influences human health
Exposure occurs when there is contact between people and an environmental contaminant
Healthy People 2020 for Environmental Health - Answer •Objectives for environmental
health
•Priority area
•Relationship between health and environmental risks
•Underlying factors contributing to disease
History of Enviornmental Health - Answer •People did not often clearly understand the links
between environment and health and did not recognize that humans influenced their
environment.
•F. Nightingale: "Mother of Biostatistics"
•Lillian Wald worked to improve the environment of the Henry Street Settlement neighborhood
•Quality of the environment became a popular topic in the mid- to late 20th century.
•Environmental Health is one of priority areas of Healthy People 2010/2020
Questions about Environmental Health - Answer •How certain contaminants affect human
health?
•How to assess exposures to contaminants?
•How the environment influences health?
•How to live as a population while maintaining a healthy environment?
The Community Environment - Answer Environment and its effect on human health is often
considered in the following two ways:
•How contaminants in the environment, such as asbestos, lead, or radon, influence human
health.
•How the entire environment surrounding the community, such as neighborhood safety,
climate, access to grocery stores, and community design, affects health.
, Nurses perform windshield surveys as a first step to assess potential environmental health risks
in the community
Precautionary Principle and Environmental Health - Answer Maintains that if something has
the potential to cause harm to the environment or humans, then precautionary measures
should be taken if there is a lack of scientific evidence concerning cause and effect
Toxicology and Environment Health - Answer •Toxicology- the basic science that studies the
health effects associated with chemical exposures
•Pollution can enter our bodies via lungs (inhalation), gastrointestinal tract (ingestion), skin and
mucous membranes (dermal)
•Chemicals can cross placenta
•Age, weight, other drugs taken and underlying health status can affect response to
environmental exposure
Four Environmental Principles - Answer 1. Everything is connected to everything else
2. Everything has to go somewhere
3. The solution to pollution is dilution
4. Today's solution may be tomorrow's problem as inreased information becomes avaliable
Environmental Health Assessment - Answer •Assess home, school, workplace and
community
•Key questions should cover past as well as present conditions
•Determine whether an exposure is in the air, water, soil or food
•Windshield survey
•Environmental databases
•Environmental assessment forms
Consider unintended environmental expos
Exposure Asessment and Environmental Health - Answer •Exposure pathway - method by
which people are exposed to an environmental contaminant that originates from a specific
source (skin, oral, inhalation)
