Journal of Advanced Practices in Nursing

Environmental Toxicant Clinician Knowledge Deficit: A Review of the Evidence

Abstract

Kreizenbeck SA, Svensson TK

With the increase in a wide array of medical, behavioral and psychiatric conditions and the belief that chemicals are playing a role in their rise, it is essential that clinicians understand risk factors of toxic chemicals so that they can educate their patients and thus hopefully prevent the occurrence of multiple health concerns. The failure to find any evidence-based reliable and valid tools to assess toxicant exposure and knowledge in the clinician and a patient, it was concluded that while medical science continues to advance on the epidemiology of autism, correlation of toxicant exposure in relation to autism and its treatment lack in the nursing science. There are many implications for practice in advancing the nursing science on toxicant knowledge, exposure, treatment and prevention. In terms of epidemiology, there is a need for more research on identifying the epidemiological contributing factors of autism spectrum disorder.