Oosterbroek, Tracy

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https://opus.uleth.ca/handle/10133/5581

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    A call to action for nurses in Canada to address climate-driven vector-borne diseases
    (Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN), 2024) Vandenberg, Shannon ; Oosterbroek, Tracy A.; Chircop, Andrea; Kellett, Peter
    Purpose: Climate change is considered a public health emergency in Canada, and nurses must respond to health-related challenges faced by Canadians. The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) Guidelines for Undergraduate Nursing Education on Climate-Driven Vector-Borne Diseases provide a comprehensive framework to guide nurses to address these challenges. The purpose of this article is to situate the necessity of moving from knowledge to action within the five domains of the CASN guidelines to enhance nursing preparedness in education, research, and practice on planetary health and climate-related issues. Discussion: Strategies for moving from knowledge to action are presented within the domains of the CASN guidelines. Nurses’ expertise should include comprehensive knowledge of endemic and exotic vector-borne diseases (VBDs), risk communication, preventive and mitigation strategies, diagnostic and treatment practices, intersectoral collaboration, and advocacy approaches. Nurses in education and practice are required to take action to improve preparedness in addressing VBDs, and research on nurses’ practice readiness is recommended. Inclusion of a planetary health lens within the CASN Guidelines for Undergraduate Nursing Education on Climate-Driven Vector-Borne Diseases is recommended, to better align with the planetary health education framework. Conclusion: Nurses must be adequately prepared for future nursing practice and expanded roles within planetary health, which involves integrating climate change content into nursing curricula and updating nursing entry-to-practice competencies. Nursing education programs in Canada should consider the calls to action on planetary health and climate change and ensure this content is comprehensively integrated into nursing curricula, incorporating Indigenous Ways of Knowing and meaningful strategies for advocacy and leadership. It is imperative that nursing graduates are prepared for enhanced roles in leading change to advocate for a climate-resilient future.
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    A cross-sectional study on Indigenous nurses’ knowledge and perceptions toward planetary health challenges
    (Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health, 2025) Vandenberg, Shannon; Oosterbroek, Tracy; Chircop, Andrea; Kellett, Peter
    Background: Planetary health challenges—such as climate change and vector-borne diseases—not only threaten human health, but also jeopardize food and water security, ecosystems, economic stability, and social well-being. Registered nurses play an integral role in supporting populations affected by planetary health challenges. Purpose: The purpose of the larger cross-sectional study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of registered nurses in Canada related to climate sensitive vector-borne diseases. This manuscript presents findings of the Indigenous participants from the larger study. Methods: A national self-administered digital survey was distributed to practicing registered nurses in Canada. Results: Of the 382 survey respondents, 35 respondents declared as Indigenous, Metis, or Inuit. Results indicated that most worked as frontline care providers, and several were nurse educators. Study findings revealed enhanced knowledge of climate change and vector-borne diseases, as well as increased awareness of, confidence toward, preparedness, and experiences with vector-borne diseases in practice demonstrated by Indigenous, Metis, and Inuit participants. The greater knowledge and confidence of Indigenous, Metis, and Inuit nurses toward climate change and vector-borne diseases may be attributed to intergenerational knowledge transfer, which has provided them with the knowledge to observe and adapt to climate-related concerns, such as the changing vector landscape. Conclusion: Indigenous nurses are well-positioned to lead the nursing profession to a decolonization of nursing knowledge, where Indigenous knowledge is used to educate and prepare nurses to address planetary challenges in practice and assume a greater role in leading change to advocate for a climate-resilient future.
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    Participatory action research and photovoice: applicability, relevance, and process in nursing education research
    (2021) Oosterbroek, Tracy; Yonge, Olive; Myrick, Florence
    Participatory action research (PAR) is a philosophy and approach to qualitative research. The purpose of this article is to generate a clearer understanding of PAR and its relevance to the discipline and profession of nursing. The authors provide a description of the principles and process of implementing PAR methodology, using photovoice as an innovative, participant-directed data collection method in rural nursing preceptorship. Participants were undergraduate nursing students and faculty advisors assigned to rural communities during the final clinical preceptorship. Participants described opportunities and challenges experienced during the preceptorship and how these experiences influenced their learning and overall preceptorship experience.
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    Planetary health: a pragmatic theoretical framework to guide nursing education, research, and practice
    (Elsevier, 2025) Vandenberg, Shannon; Oosterbroek, Tracy; Chircop, Andrea; Kellett, Peter
    The term Planetary Health has been used in mainstream narrative in the past decades, but the term has only recently gained traction in nursing literature. Nurses are highly trusted and well-positioned to play an integral role in planetary health, by addressing the various challenges and health effects associated with planetary health decline. Issue: While the traditional scope of nursing practice includes health promotion, and illness, injury, and disease prevention, planetary health incorporates broader issues such as climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, resource scarcity, and marine degradation. Nurses may lack knowledge and confidence regarding planetary health issues, which may correlate to inadequate confidence and feelings of unpreparedness in practice. Therefore, planetary health presents as a pragmatic theoretical framework for nursing education, practice, and research. Purpose: The purpose of this manuscript is to advocate for the applicability of planetary health for nursing practice, education, and research, incorporating an example of a research study that examined nurses’ percep- tions toward climate sensitive vector-borne diseases. Planetary health challenges are threatening human health globally, and nurses must be prepared to preserve human and planetary health.
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    "We’ve lost a lot of lives:” the impact of the closure of North America’s busiest supervised consumption site on people who use substances and the organizations that work with them
    (Springer Nature, 2025) Magnuson, Morgan; Vandenberg, Shannon; Oosterbroek, Tracy; Dey, Kevin
    Background Supervised Consumption Sites (SCS) are an evidence-based harm reduction intervention that reduces the risk of fatal drug poisonings. However, these approaches have faced political opposition in Canada, resulting in the closures of SCS in some provinces. Our study examines the aftermath of the closure of what was once North America’s busiest SCS, located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, offering a contextualized exploration of regressive drug policies. Methods Our study adopts a descriptive qualitative design to explore the Lethbridge SCS closure and the city’s current state of harm reduction service provision. We conducted 37 interviews to understand the perspectives of people who use substances (PWUS) and staff members of organizations that provide harm-reduction services in Lethbridge. We chose to use reflexive thematic analysis, which allows for a critical realist and contextual approach to data analysis. Results We developed three themes based on our analysis. Our first theme speaks to the harms of SCS closures on PWUS and organizations that provide harm reduction services. Next, our second theme highlights participants’ perspectives on the political motivations behind the SCS closure. Our last theme explores how PWUS and organizations navigate the political opposition to harm reduction approaches while responding to the worsening unregulated drug poisoning crisis. Conclusions Our findings speak to the dangers of political decisions that restrict access to harm reduction services within the context of the current unregulated drug poisoning crisis.