Nursing (on) a Sick Planet: Critical Consciousness and Action in a Time of Planetary Decline

Nurses in Canada and worldwide have been experiencing a healthcare system under the strain of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the effects of climate change, what is to come will likely be even more straining, particularly if healthcare providers and administrators are not prepared. This special issue invited nurses to dive into the complexities of climate change and the ecological determinants of health and consider essential concepts related to nursing. The nursing profession is experiencing a change in thinking toward an expanded environmental context, as nurses witness the ever-increasing destructive land use, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions that ignore gross inequities in environmental burdens that bring us closer to catastrophic consequences (Kurth, 2017). The papers in this special issue provide some direction for nurses to help prepare themselves and the system for what lies ahead. We want to add some additional considerations relating to nursing (on) a sick planet in a time of planetary decline.