Preparing the nursing workforce for heat-adaptation and heat-health leadership

Background: Rising temperatures and increasingly frequent extreme heat events are creating urgent clinical, public health, and system-level challenges. Although nurses are positioned across acute, primary, aged and community care settings, their potential to lead heat-health response and adaptation in the community remains underrecognized. Major points: Nursing curricula does not adequately prepare graduates for the realities of heat-related risk, with limited coverage of heat physiology, environmental risk assessment, and climate responsive competencies. These gaps limit nursing’s capacity in the context of heat-health to identify vulnerability, support marginalized communities, and contribute to mitigation and adaptation efforts. Strengthening education requires embedding heat health content across foundational units, developing clear environmental health competencies, and equipping students with practical skills for patient education, discharge planning, and community outreach. Implications: Educational reform alone is insufficient. Nurses are the largest frontline health workforce, yet they remain underutilized in policy and system design, representing a missed opportunity to strengthen community heat-health response and adaptation. Elevating nursing leadership would harness their unique position within communities to enhance the equity and cultural safety of heat-health strategies that reflect the standards and expectations of contemporary nursing practice. Conclusions: Aligning education, professional standards, and organizational structures will enable nurses to lead heat-health adaptation and enhance resilience across diverse populations.