October 20, 2022
Climate, Health, and Healthcare: The World Needs Nurses Now
About
Presented by: Elizabeth Schenk, PhD, RN, FAAN, Exec. Director of Environmental Stewardship, Providence Health; Assistant Professor, Washington State University College of Nursing
Hybrid event: Online (Zoom) & In-Person
Time: Oct. 20th, 2022 from 12 - 2pm
The climate crisis is happening now. In western North America, we are living through fires, smoke, heat, and flooding, each of which impacts the physical and mental health of individuals, families, and communities. Dr Schenk will discuss opportunities for nurses and other health professionals to engage with these challenging issues. With a solutions-based approach, she will describe her WE ACT Please framework, the Climate and Health Tool (CHANT), and her work leading environmental stewardship at Providence, one of the largest non-profit health systems in the US.
Elizabeth Schenk, PhD, RN, FAAN
Executive Director of Environmental Stewardship - Providence
Beth Schenk serves as the Executive Director of Environmental Stewardship for Providence, one of the nation’s largest non-profit health systems. On Earth Day, 2020, Providence announced its goal to become carbon negative by 2030. Beth is helping lead this effort through strategy and innovation, conservation of resources, by improving the efficiency of practices and processes, and through education and research, built on her experience decreasing the environmental impacts of health care for almost 30 years.
Beth is an assistant research professor at Washington State University College of Nursing. She led the development of CHANT: Climate and Health Tool, measuring health professionals’ awareness and engagement with climate change and health. CHANT has been translated to several languages and used in over 30 nations. She developed the WE ACT Framework (Waste, Energy/water, Agriculture/food, Chemicals, Transportation) to organize the extensive range of environmental stewardship while motivating action.
She is active at national, state, and local levels, serving on the boards of the national organization The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, the state organization Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, and the local organization Climate Smart Missoula. She hosts the Nurses for Healthy Environments Podcast, now in its fifth season.
Beth has been honoured with the Charlotte Brody Award, as a distinguished alumnus from the University of Montana, and as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, serving on the Expert Panel for Environmental and Public Health.
She is driven by her personal passion to conserve our natural world while building better health. She celebrates the joy of living in Montana with her family, friends, and pets – hiking, gardening, knitting, and playing music.
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