In the increasingly complex environment in which health care is delivered today,
registered nurses are the premier advocates for:
- The safety and quality of patient care
- The health and safety of registered nurses and other health care professionals
and health care workers
- Health care practices which do no harm to the public health environment outside
the settings in which health care is delivered.
From the American Journal of Nursing
Lighting the Way
Luminary Project proposes solutions for a safer, cleaner environment
On the Web
ANA
RN No Harm / Pollution Prevention
ANA
Pollution Prevention Kit for Nurses
Designed to assist nurses staff nurses, executives, local
bargaining unit leaders, community health nurses, and nursing faculty to become
active in reducing the toxic pollution created as a health care industry
byproduct. The kit is filled with resources to involve nurses in their own work
site and community.
Each kit contains:
- A facilitator's guide, which describes each piece in the kit and gives ideas for
their use. Background information Health Care Without Harm information Personal
Action Steps Political Action Steps
- and other resources, including Mercury and the Healthcare Professional
video
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment
(H2E)
The ANA has strengthened its ongoing efforts in advocating for environmental
health and safety by joining the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the
American Hospital Association (AHA) to advance pollution prevention efforts in
the nation’s hospitals. Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), born out of a
landmark agreement between the EPA and the AHA in 1998, seeks to eliminate
mercury from the health care waste stream by 2002 and reduce the total volume of
all types of waste generated in hospitals and health systems by one third by
2002 and by half by 2010 An additional goal is to minimize the production of
persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic pollutants.
The Nightingale Institute for Health and
the Environment
The mission of this institute is to assist healthcare professionals to recognize
the inextricable link between human and environmental health and their role in
creating the change in practice needed to improve the health of humans and the
environment.
The
Sustainable Hospitals Project
The Sustainable Hospitals Project at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell has
a web-based clearinghouse for selecting products and work practices that
eliminate or reduce occupational and environmental hazards, maintain quality
patient care, and contain costs. Information about latex-free medical gloves,
safer needle devices, alternatives to polyvinyl chloride products (PVC), and
mercury-free products are included at this site.
The National Nurses
Survey on Health and Chemical Exposures
This survey explores the relationship between a nurse's health and on-the-job
exposures to chemicals, drugs and other harmful agents. Until September 30,
2005, nurses will be able to enter information online about their workplace
experiences and exposures. Nurses will also be able to download information
related to hazardous substances and alternative products.
Health Care Without Harm
(HCWH)
Since 1997 ANA, and since 1998 ICN, have been members of the coalition, Health
Care Without Harm. The coalition now totals 337 members in 37 countries. The
mission of HCWH is to transform the health care industry so it is no longer a
source of environmental harm by eliminating pollution in health care practices
without compromising safety or care.
- HCWH Pollution Prevention page
- Green
Birthdays Important information every healthcare provider should
know about the environmental safety of the birth place and practical steps to
reduce their own and their patients exposure to toxic chemicals
International Council of Nurses (ICN) Position Statements
EnviRN
This web site from the University of Maryland School of Nursing is dedicated to
supporting nursing professionals seeking accurate, timely and credible
scientific information on environmental health and nursing.
Safe
Workplaces and Healthy Learning Places: Environmentally Healthy Schools
A Continuing Education Module offered through the American Nurses Association,
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the University of Maryland School
of Nursing.
Environmental Florence Nightingales: Nursing’s New Front line
(PDF file)
Environmental Health Perspectives, (Volume 109, Number 3, March 2001).
"Recycling and the
NICU: What Options Do We Have to Get Green?" Editorial from Central
Lines/The NANN Pages
The
Precautionary Principle
A new principle for guiding human activities, to prevent harm to the environment
and to human health, has been emerging during the past 10 years. It is called
the "principle of precautionary action" or the "precautionary principle" for
short.
