In Finland, a Far-sighted Look at Climate Change

Ruth A. McDermott-Levy ’96 MSN, ’08 PhD, MPH, RN (left) is grateful to faculty, staff and students at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), especially her host, Hannele Turunen, PhD, RN, director of the Department of Nursing Science (right). Dr. Turunen “helped me navigate my research and life at UEF,” says the Fulbright Scholar.

As a Fulbright Scholar in Finland last fall, Ruth A. McDermott-Levy ’96 MSN, ’08 PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN especially appreciated learning about the country’s culture and introducing to Finnish colleagues climate change and health as part of nursing practice, education and research. Associate professor and director of the Fitzpatrick College of Nursing’s Center for Global and Public Health, Dr. McDermott-Levy was a Fulbright-Saastamoinen Foundation Health and Environmental Sciences Scholar at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) in Kuopio, from last August to December.

While in this Scandinavian country that reaches into the Arctic, Dr. McDermott-Levy:

• worked with a student in UEF’s new nursing Master’s in Public Health on her thesis, a qualitative study of Finnish nurses’ observations of health changes related to climate change in Finland. This work will be the foundation of Dr. McDermott-Levy’s Delphi study to quantify what health changes the nurses are observing related to climate change in various patient populations. The Delphi will be completed this year in collaboration with two UEF nursing faculty members and the graduate student;

• met with the Finnish Nurses Association (FNA) to discuss climate change and health related to how the country’s nurses prepare to address patient needs. Dr. McDermottLevy posted a blog and collaborated with the graduate student to deliver a webinar. FNA will assist with recruiting nurses for the Delphi study;

• spoke at The Global Climate and Health Summit in Katowice, Poland, last December on “Nurses, Climate Change and Health: A Growing Movement.” The summit, held in conjunction with COP24 (the United Nations climate meeting), was sponsored by the World Health Organization, the Global Climate and Health Alliance, the European Committee of the Regions and Pro Silesia; and

• guest lectured in four graduate nursing courses at UEF on the environment, climate change and global health, as well as at Laurea University of Allied Technology in Vantaa on “Megatrends in Global Health.”