Planetary Health – What do Community Health Nurses Have to do With It?

An Introduction to The Perinatal Planetary Health Assessment Tool. 

Presenter: Jacqueline Avanthay Strus, RN, PhD(c)

Date: Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Time: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. EDT

• CHNC members will received a link to join the session via email.
• No preregistration required.

The 7th International Global Network of Public Health Nursing will be holding their annual conference in Calgary, Alberta from July 28-30, 2025. The University of Calgary, Faculty of Nursing and Mount Royal University, School of Nursing and Midwifery will be co-hosting the conference and welcoming over 300 attendees from around the world.

The aims of the Global Network of Public Health Nursing are to:

• Develop a shared definition of public health nursing practice that will be able to reflect the culture, professional traditions, social-economic climate and the policy of individual countries throughout the world.

• Develop public health nursing practice by sharing the experiences of public health nurses, health visitors and other practitioners, educators, leaders and researchers in this area from around the world. 

The theme of this year’s conference is "Building Resilience and Innovative Solutions: Amplifying Impact and Advancing Positive Global Public Health Change”

Conference website link and registration:

https://www.gnphn.com/7th-international-gnphn-conference

The Community Health Nurses of Canada is pleased to announce another exciting CHNC Professional Development Webinar! This panel presentation webinar is being brought to you by the CHNC Leadership Committee.

This webinar will be recorded and posted on the CHNC YouTube site for those who are unable to attend. There is no charge to attend the webinars, and all are welcome to join! 

Title of Webinar: Community Health Nurses: Leaders in Planetary Health

Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Time: 12-1 pm ET (9-10 am PT; 10-11 am MT; 11 am - 12 pm CT; 1-2 pm AT)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wk-cX1SRQC2H1q1MNMz6PA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 

Learning objectives for this webinar panel presentation:

·         Define planetary health and how human activities have affected

          the health of the planet

·         Describe how to be leaders as community health nurses in

          planetary health at a system level in communities and in your

          organization

Presenter Bios:

Barbara Astle, PhD, RN, FCAN, FAAN

Barb is an Internationally recognized Professor and Associate Dean, MSN Program, Trinity Western University (TWU), Langley, BC, Canada in Planetary/Global Health. She has served on numerous local, national, and global organizations focused on planetary/global initiatives. Her scholarship focuses on planetary/global health education, research and service, human rights, albinism, and research literacy. She co-authored the Planetary Health Education Framework (PHEF); co-edited the CASN special edition articles on Planetary Health and Well-being for nursing education; and the CNA/CANE Position Statement on Planetary Health. She is an inductee in Canadian Women in Global Health (CWGH); founding member Canadian Women in Global Health; NNPBC recipient of Excellence in Nursing awards for Global Health (2017); and Planetary Health (2024).

Jacqueline Avanthay Strus, PhD (c), RN, MScN

Hailing from a borderlands, Jack sees themself not from one people but from many people. They are second-generation Canadian that grew up in a small rural Métis community near three First Nations Reserves. The geographical and social location where they grew up allowed them to work with multiple ways of knowing, including learning the Anishinaabe Nation's traditional teachings. As a walker between worlds, they find themselves ideally placed to integrate transformative learning principles through experiential learning in several place-based nursing research projects from a planetary health nursing perspective. They are a professor at the School of Nursing and Health Studies at l’Université de Saint-Boniface and the Past-President of the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment, where their research focuses on health equity issues from a planetary health perspective.

Danielle Bourque Bearskin, RN, MScN

tansi niwahkomakanak ekwa nitotemtik kitatamiskâtinwâw kâkîyaw nisitohten nitisîkasî. kinikotwâsik-tipahamâtowaskîwâhk ochî nîya ekwa mekwâch niwîkin ekwa maskihkîwiskwêw nitatoskâtên. nitânisko-wâhkôhtowin kîwêtinôtâwiyiniwak ekwa âpihtawikosisânak ninanâtohkoskânêsin

Greetings relatives and friends, I greet you all wholeheartedly. My name is nisitohten (which means I understand in Cree). Treaty 6 territory is where I am originally from and currently live. I work as a Nurse. My ancestry is Northern Cree (also known as bush or woodland cree) and Metis, and I identify as mixed-race. 

Danielle Bourque Bearskin, RN, BScN, MScN is a member of Beaver Lake Cree Nation. Boasting over a decade of registered nursing expertise spanning acute and public health care settings, Danielle has demonstrated leadership and passion to advancing Indigenous health across the continuum of care. Blending her cultural, academic, and nursing backgrounds, Danielle continues to invest in approaches that are responsive to the community needs and health policy that is built upon the self-determination of Indigenous communities.

Allyson Fournier, RN

Allyson, RN Red Hummingbird, Pisew Iskwew. First Nation Youth Woman with mixed Czech, Franco-Manitobain & Rocky Cree from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation. She is a Registered Nurse, graduated from Universite de Saint-Boniface in 2021, and is currently working for Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc. throughout indigenous communities across northern Manitoba. She has reclaimed her traditional role as helper, incorporating western nursing and traditional indigenous ways of wholistic health, balance, and wellness.

Casey Neathway, CPHI(C), MBA

Casey Neathway is a leader in public health with over a decade of experience bridging environmental health, community resilience, and strategic policy development. Currently serving as Director of Regional Health Emergency Management and Environmental Public Health Services at the First Nations Health Authority, Casey brings a unique interdisciplinary approach to addressing complex health challenges at the intersection of community well-being and environmental sustainability.

Casey's professional journey reflects a commitment to innovative, community-centered approaches to health. From grassroots initiatives to leading regional health services, his work consistently emphasizes the critical role of environmental context in public health strategy. Casey’s expertise spans climate resilience, community-based health interventions, and developing adaptive responses to emerging public health challenges.

Casey has consistently demonstrated the ability to mobilize diverse professional teams to address complex health issues with published research focusing on understanding and mitigating environmental health risks.

"The 2025 theme for Black History Month is: "Black Legacy and Leadership: Celebrating Canadian History and Uplifting Future Generations.” This theme acknowledges the diversity of Black Canadians, the importance of Black leadership and the legacy being built for future generations. Black communities are diverse at many levels. Those with a long history in this country have established a legacy for the newer communities. The theme underscores that Black Canadians have a rightful place in the nation's narrative, with over 400 years of historical presence on these Indigenous lands, deserving acknowledgment and celebration."

  https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/black-history-month.html

Canada's First Black Public Health Nurse

Bernice Redmon

"Born Bernice Isobel Carnegie in Toronto in 1917, Bernice Redmon would become a trailblazer in nursing by breaking barriers as a Black Canadian nurse.

Redmon aspired to be a nurse. However, during the 1940s, Black women were denied admission to Canadian nursing schools. Undeterred, Redmon pursued her nursing education in the United States at St. Phillip Hospital Medical College in Virginia. She graduated with a registered nursing degree three years later. Redmon earned a scholarship to continue her studies and went on to receive an additional degree in public health nursing.

After returning to Canada in 1945, Redmon began her career in Sydney, Nova Scotia. At the Nova Scotia Department of Health, she became the first Black nurse to practice in public health. Her dedication and passion for patient care led to her appointment to the Victorian Order of Nurses in Canada, making her the first Black nurse to achieve this honor. "

https://www.uwindsor.ca/nursing/breaking-boundaries

Paging Dr. ChatGPT: Exploring Community Health Nursing in the Digital Era

The future of community health nursing is here, and it’s digital. But are you ready to embrace the opportunities and challenges of this rapidly changing landscape?

Speaker: Dr. Shauna Davies, RN, PhD

                Associate Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Regina 

Date: Wednesday, February 19

Time: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. EST

Join us on February 19th by clicking the photo below!

No need to pre register.

Hope to see you there!

• • Develop a shared definition of public health nursing practice that will be able to reflect the culture, professional traditions, social-economic climate and the policy of individual countries throughout the world.
  • Develop public health nursing practice by sharing the experiences of public health nurses, health visitors and other practitioners, educators, leaders and researchers in this area from around the world.