The importance of understanding air pollution in nursing practice

Air pollution is harmful for everyone, but it particularly affects the poorest and the most vulnerable, i.e. it contributes to health inequality. This article will identify those vulnerable groups and set out what nurses can do to advise people and communities, develop strategies to address it and avoid contributing further to the problem.

Currently there is no systematic education programme for nurses about the effect of air pollution on health.¹ This is the first of two articles to help arm nurses with some fundamental information. This article focuses on outdoor air pollution and a second article will focus on indoor air pollution.