Erika Abrantes (‘21 CO)
Work
Erika is a Labor & Delivery Registered Nurse working to increase sustainability from within the U.S. healthcare system.
Priority areas for mentorship
Connecting with thought leaders
Community organizing
Research
Hi! My name is Erika! Currently, I am a Labor & Delivery Registered Nurse — which in short means I help manage the antepartum (before labor), intrapartum (during labor & delivery), and postpartum (post delivery) phases for mamas and their newborns. I attended Clarkson University where I ran D3 cross country and graduated in May 2020. Following I immediately went to nursing school at the University of Pennsylvania where I obtained my BSN in December 2021. I was raised in Lake George, NY which is located in the southeastern end of the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York.
I loveeee to run, read, music, hike, be out on the lake, and really anything outdoors. I am also obsessed with my two dogs and cat. So my project is definitely a different approach to environmental and sustainable action by coming from a healthcare-related approach. I attended Footprints in the Summer of 2021 - which has now happened 2 years ago which is crazy. This camp allowed my brain to stop going 10000 miles a minute and allowed me to pause and think beyond what the traditional nursing path looked like. At first I was imagining a camp for kiddos in inner cities that focused on increasing environmental & sustainable awareness because sadly (especially in places like Northeast Philadelphia, etc.) they live in concrete jungles where trees, grass, and safe outdoor space does not exist. Then my project morphed into focusing on nurses and the profession of nursing by creating a camp focusing on how nursing can impact our respective communities in a way that positively impacts the environment; while at the same time focusing on self-care for nurses and decreasing burnout. Unfortunately, after camp, I was thrown right back into my last semester of school followed by taking the NCLEX followed by surviving my first year as a Registered Nurse so to be completely honest my project got put on the backburner. Fast forward 2 years post camp and now I am 1.5 years into my career. I have learned a lot, seen a lot, and have noticed quite a few problems that cause a barrier in my original camp project ideas. So long story short I am still at phase 1 but my phase 1 has morphed multiple times.
A healthy planet equates to healthy people and we have all seen the impacts of climate change and the impact that has on individuals. From the Northeast's perspective, we have been fortunate in that we have low key been in a protective bubble from natural diesters. This summer however we have been impacted greatly by the Canadian wildfires which has greatly impacted our air quality which greatly impacts the health of everyone in the Northeast. My friend, who is a RN in Philadelphia made the statement to me, "Its funny, I felt like it was in reverse, I had to wear a mask to work because the air quality was so bad and when I got into the hospital I took the mask off. It used to be the exact opposite during COVID."
From my area of practice the environment impacts pregnant people. If it's too hot/humid outside (which has been all summer) their uterus (which is a muscle) starts contracting because its dehydrated and they go into false labor. Additionally, the food they eat, the water they drink, the air they breathe, the environment they live in all have the potential impact to affect the baby in some sort of epigenetic way. The correlation between healthcare (in every aspect) and environmental/sustainable action needs to become a priority of every hospital in America because at the end of the day it greatly affects the outcome of our patients a.k.a humankind. So right now I am looking for healthcare professionals or really anyone who has any advice on how to get involved directly with sustainability and environmental action in the healthcare world from a nursing/leadership standpoint. I am in the process of looking to go back to school and it would be really amazing to go into this field of nursing leadership/research & environmental/sustainable action. So any advice on that would also be amazing. I need to spend time not working and just sit and think about all of this more haha. But anyway, if there are any other healthcare or non-healthcare people out there passionate about all of this, I would love to connect!
