Environmentally Sustainable Nursing Practices: Small Changes Make a Big Difference

“The decisions nurses make about waste and efficiency on the front lines of clinical care matter, and the potential impact on health and the environment should not be underestimated.”

These days, most nurses have little time for anything that isn’t COVID related. Either we’re inundated with patients, changing work flow and physical spaces to accommodate long-term social distancing, or trying to home-school our kids or plan the next trip to the grocery store. Inevitably, though, our attention will return to other urgent issues in health care. The impact of our everyday work practices on the health of the planet is one of these issues.

How often do you toss unused linen into a laundry hamper after a patient is discharged, or discard leftover but unopened supplies that have been in a patient’s room, or hurriedly throw away soiled “chux” in a “red-bagged waste” container because that’s the nearest receptacle? In “Reducing Waste in the Clinical Setting” in this month’s issue, Sara Wohlford and colleagues at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia, share how increased attention to wasteful practices and modest changes in workflow can impact the environment and save money.

Small changes in three areas can make a big difference.

The authors looked at […]

2020-06-04T10:11:36-04:00June 4th, 2020|environmental health, Nursing, nursing research|0 Comments
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‘An Urgent Public Health Challenge’ – APHA Meeting Emphasizes Climate Change

APHA climate change/health infographic. Click to enlarge.

The theme of this year’s American Public Health Association (APHA) meeting in Atlanta is “Creating the Healthiest Nation: Climate Changes Health.” The meeting is estimated to have drawn 12,000 attendees. Below are highlights so far.

Threats and opportunities.

Monday night, Howard Frumkin, DrPH, MPH, MD, of the University of Washington, called climate change “one of the most pressing public health issues we face.” In discussing the recently released Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change 2017 Report: U.S. Briefing, a joint publication of the Lancet and APHA that highlights the threats and opportunities climate change poses to Americans, Frumkin identified some key findings:

  • Exposure to dangerous heat and severe weather events is increasing.
  • Exposure to disease and allergies is changing (one example: allergy seasons are often prolonged).
  • The carbon intensity of U.S. energy use is decreasing, but this process must be accelerated to reduce climate-related health risks.

Nurse voices in environmental health.

During a session called “Public Health Nursing Research—Climate, Health, and Vulnerable Populations,” Linda A. McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, of Emory University, highlighted the vital role nurses play both in producing research findings about environmental hazards and human health and in translating these into practice.

“Nurses can go to the science and take it back to the community. That’s what we’re so good at.”

But when it comes to speaking out about environmental issues […]

2017-11-08T10:31:59-05:00November 8th, 2017|environmental health, Nursing|0 Comments
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Earth Day 2017: An Important Role for Nurses

By Barbara Polivka, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor and Shirley B. Powers Endowed Chair in Nursing Research, University of Louisville, Kentucky

“… the symptoms or the sufferings generally considered to be inevitable and incident to the disease are very often not symptoms of the disease at all, but of something quite different—of the want of fresh air, or of light, or of warmth, or of quiet, or of cleanliness…”  -Florence Nightingale, Notes on Nursing: What it is and What it is Not (1859).

 

crocus shoots, early spring / Wikimedia Commons

As we celebrate the 46th Earth Day, it’s good to look back.

  • Earth Day was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in on April 22nd, 1970.
  • The first Earth Day celebration helped spur the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act.
  • Earth Day became an international celebration in 1971 when the UN Secretary General talked about it at a Peace Bell Ceremony in New York City.

A time to think about how we affect the environment and are affected by the environment.

Health Care Without Harm (https://noharm.org/) is an international organization promoting environmental health and justice. If you aren’t familiar with Health Care Without Harm I urge you to go to their website to see how health care organizations are decreasing their environmental impact. Health care facilities are:

2017-04-21T08:26:16-04:00April 21st, 2017|environmental health, Nursing, Public health|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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