Clinical Nursing for Climate Justice and Planetary Health

Climate change reflects social, political, and ecological harms that shape clinical care and health inequities. This article offers a justice-oriented, public health-informed framework for clinical nursing practice, showing how climate-related exposures and structural vulnerability appear in patient presentations, care transitions, and recovery. Drawing on structural competency, Cultural Safety, planetary health ethics, and the Global Nurse Agenda for Climate Justice, the article illustrates how nurses can integrate environmental assessment, advocacy, and system stewardship into routine care. Using clinical examples and nursing metaphors of hospice care and midwifery, it positions nurses as essential actors in supporting health, equity, and planetary well-being.