Planetary Health in Health Professions Education

Background: Climate change is a public health crisis that health care professionals must be prepared to address. Academic programs for health professions have an opportunity to express commitment to addressing planetary health through website content. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to describe how nursing and other health care education programs acknowledge planetary health on their websites. Methods: Nine website metrics were evaluated for top programs across 14 unique health care professions. Results: Seventy university websites were reviewed. Nursing programs are most likely to share information about climate-related courses on their websites, but minimally include other metrics. Inclusion of website metrics for other health care professions varied greatly. Conclusions: Nurses are positioned to be leaders in planetary health. Without clear prioritization from institutions of higher learning, there remains a gap between patient needs and health care professionals’ knowledge. Intentionally expressing a commitment to planetary health on websites can attract students who prioritize the issue, increasing the impact nurses and other health care professionals can have on planetary health.