REPORT: December 2006

Guest Editorial: Go green for the new year

by Karen Ballard, MA, RN, Co-chair, Health Care Without Harm Nurses Group

What is the dominant color of this time of the year? Green! We see it in strings of lights, window displays, and decorated trees. For nurses, the color green should also be a reminder of our responsibility to address the environmental health concerns of patients, their families, healthcare facilities, communities and Planet Earth. Environmental health is a good fit with the ethical values of the nursing profession regarding social justice, violation of human rights, promotion of health and disease prevention, access to health care, and improving healthcare environments.

In Notes on Nursing, Florence Nightingale wrote, “The First Rule of Nursing…Keep the air within as pure as the air without.” Nurses have long appreciated the impact that environmental factors (air and water quality, food, sanitation, cleanliness, chemicals, pesticides, waste products) have on the health of individuals, families and communities. What has not been as understood is the impact of products used in health care upon patients’ and nurses’ health, their environments, and global health.

Nurses have a vital role in mitigating the negative impact on the environment of products used in healthcare facilities and disposal of medical waste. The International Council of Nursing (ICN) has published positions on the responsibility of the profession to help protect the natural environment, ensure proper disposal of medical waste, and improve access to safe water. The American Nurses Association House of Delegates has passed resolutions calling for reducing toxic pollutants, banning use of non-therapeutic antibiotics in animal feed, and supporting a nurse’s right to know about chemical exposures and health effects.

With grant support from Health Care Without Harm, NYSNA has created a booklet, The Nurse’s Role in Environmental Health, which focuses on the effects of environmental hazards on public health, ways for nurses to get involved in reducing these hazards, and resources for information and activism. For further information or a free copy of the booklet, NYSNA members may contact Tom Lowe, NYSNA Health and Safety Representative, at 888-551-3112, ext. 200.

The ANA will soon publish Principles of Environmental Health for Nursing Practice, which will discuss prevention of environmental hazards, taking action in the face of uncertainty, shifting burdens of proof to those who create risks, and analyzing alternatives to potentially harmful products and practices. ANA has a special section of its Web site (www.nursingworld.org/coeh/rnnoharm) that addresses issues such as the nurse’s right to a safe and healthy work environment; using best evidence in the choice of products, technology and practices; and participating in research to establish environmental best practices. Other sources of information on nursing and environmental health are Sustainable Hospitals (www.sustainablehospitals.org) and EnviRN (www.enviRN.umaryland.edu).

As advocates for the public’s health, nurses can take advantage of many opportunities to become environmental health activists. Join Health Care Without Harm (www.noharm.org), an international campaign for environmentally safe health care, which has a Nurses Workgroup. Urge your hospital to join Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (www.H2E-online.org). In your home, workplace, and communities you can support comprehensive recycling programs; closure of medical waste incinerators; and elimination of harmful substances from the environment. If you are already active, tell your story on The Luminary Project Web site (www.TheLuminaryProject.org).

For inspiration, consider the environmental counsel from the Iroquois Confederacy – “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.