Working in healthcare, it can be daunting how much energy and waste flows through our facilities in the day-to-day provision of care. Within such large and complex systems, it is difficult to know how you, one person, can reduce your impact.
This feeling of powerlessness intensifies when you consider the policies and procedures in place to maintain cleanliness and sterility and protect patients. How can a nurse really make a difference without compromising patient care or their employment?
I believe the answer to this question is by working to change the system from within. One person cannot single handedly change suppliers, introduce a lower waste cleaning system, or take control of the hospital waste stream. What they can do is:
- Assess the situation
In facilities like hospitals, nurses are the feet on the ground. They and other HCPs are the ones who are providing the direct patient care that the rest of the hospital operates around. Look at your day and see where the waste is coming from, what processes use excess energy or water, and what rooms sit empty, heated, and well lit, or what windows have a permanent draft. This is the low hanging fruit, pain points that can be recognized by staff and need to be managed.
2. Treat your workplace the way you treat your home
You would never crank the shower to hot and then walk away for 10 minutes in your own home (I hope). Yet, you’d be hard pressed to find a nurse who had never run water down the drain at work. Workplace culture, stress, and a lack of accountability (like what you’d see on your water bill) are a huge driver of waste in healthcare. Start looking at your workplace and your work habits with the same critical eye you would have in your own home. Then, change your actions for the better.
3. Advocate
Climate change will affect all of us, and will put tremendous strain on our healthcare system as the effects lead to increased chronic disease and acute injury. Nurses are advocates, and need to take their role into the larger sphere from patient care. Advocate to management, and make it known that you see areas for improved resource use. Do it smartly, and make money part of your argument. Small changes can lead to large savings in these 24/7 facilities.
4. Get political
Nursing and healthcare is political. Every day you interact with patients directly affected by government policies and make choices that support or threaten the status quo. Get educated on who is impacted by pollution, carbon emissions, and a changing environment, and support policies, parties, and politicians that prioritize the environment. This does not mean that you need to vote for the Green party, but it should mean that you are paying attention and actively participating. Local and provincial governments play a large role in development and in your immediate environment. Who is prioritizing the health of your community? Who is threatening it?
5. Be an example
Nurses are well respected in the public. Consider how you represent your own views on the environment. Look at your home, your lifestyle, and your own biggest contributors of excess waste and energy usage. Bring that energy into the workplace and set an example for your peers. The best way to change others’ behaviours and beliefs is through a positive example. Choosing to turn off the lights during night shift, fully shut down the computers when you leave the office, and adjust the thermostat appropriately are all ways of quietly and positively changing your workplace culture without stepping on toes and offending others. It is much easier to alter your own behaviour than other people, and peer pressure is a huge motivator.
Climate change is scary, and can seem overwhelming to address. How can one nurse in a huge facility really have a positive impact? I hope that the 5 steps above give you an idea of how to start the ball rolling on small and big changes to improve sustainability within the healthcare system. Every movement starts with a few people who diligently pursue their cause, and nurses will have a big impact on how sustainable healthcare becomes.
The Avery Spectacle 