School of Nursing: Faculty - Patricia Butterfield

Patricia Butterfield, Ph.D., R.N. FAAN
Affiliate Professor

Psychosocial & Community Health
Box 357263
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195

Email Address: pbutter@u.washington.edu


I have great passion for the study of occupational and environmental health nursing. Within the worksite, nurses can be sentinels for the recognition of health problems as well as creating an organizational culture that promotes health, safety, and vitality. I am specifically interested in small businesses and in rural communities where occupational health resources are few and far between.
My work also addresses household environmental health and how low-income families conceptualize and act in response to potential environmental health risks to their children. Our primary study involves a partnership between the UW School of Nursing, Montana State University, Gallatin City County Health Department, and Whatcom County Health Department. That study, titled Environmental Risk Reduction through Nursing Interventions and Education (ERRNIE), is a four-year randomized controlled trial funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research.
Within this context, I am interested in testing the impact of public health nursing interventions on families' knowledge of and responses to local environmental health risks. Our current efforts focus on the collection of household and biomarker data addressing multiple agents (e.g., radon, lead, carbon monoxide, indoor tobacco smoke, and biologic and chemical contaminants in private wells).


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