Nursing and Environmental Sustainability: Pioneers of Green Transformation in Health

Year 2024, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 51 - 62, 30.08.2024

Tuba Çatak

https://doi.org/10.55895/sshs.1522830

Abstract

Despite providing services to protect and improve public health, healthcare facilities have negative impacts on human welfare and the environment due to their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and ecological footprint. This highlights the urgency of implementing sustainable practices in healthcare facilities. As frontline healthcare workers,nurses make up the largest proportion of all healthcare professionals worldwide and play an important role in reducing the environmental footprint of healthcare, achieving human well-being goals and advocating for sustainable practices within healthcare organizations. Sustainable nursing practices aims to provide good care with minimal harm. It prevents pollution and advocates for clean and productive ecosystems. It also promotes the sustainable use of natural resources. Despite the existing knowledge on this topic, addressing the critical roles and responsibilities of nurses in environmental sustainability, assessing their contributions to green transformation processes in healthcare organizations and the barriers they face are important for improving sustainable healthcare practices.

Keywords

Environmental sustainability, nursing, student, sustainable nursing practice.

References

• Abaku, E. A., & Odimarha, A. C. (2024). Sustainable supply chain management in the medical industry: a theoretical and practical examination. International Medical Science Research Journal, 4(3), 319-340. https://doi.org/10.51594/imsrj.v4i3.931
• Akanmu, M. D., Othman, A., & Yousaf, M. F. (2022). Comparative study of lean six sigma practices for sustainability: a blueprint for post covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Technology and Operations Management, 17(2), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.32890/jtom2022.17.2.1
• Alam,. A.A., Ahmed, S.K., & Aziz , A.A. (2024). Environmental impacts of covid-19 hospitals and architectural remedies. EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR), 10(5), 31–34. https://doi.org/10.36713/epra16665
• Álvarez-Nieto, C., Richardson, J., Navarro-Perán, M. Á., Tutticci, N., Huss, N., Elf, M., Anåker, A., Aronsson, J., Baid, H., & López-Medina, I. M. (2022). Nursing students’ attitudes towards climate change and sustainability: A cross-sectional multisite study. Nurse Education Today, 108, 105185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2021.105185
• Álvarez-Nieto, C., Richardson, J., Parra-Anguita, G., Linares-Abad, M., Huss, N., Grande-Gascón, M. L., Grose, J., Huynen, M., & López-Medina, I. M. (2018). Developing digital educational materials for nursing and sustainability: The results of an observational study. Nurse Education Today, 60, 139–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2017.10.008
• Anåker, A., & Elf, M. (2014). Sustainability in nursing: a concept analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 28(2), 381–389. https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12121
• Aronsson, J., Clarke, D., Grose, J., & Richardson, J. (2020). Student nurses exposed to sustainability education can challenge practice: A cohort study. Nursing & Health Sciences, 22(3), 803–811. https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12734
• Butterfield, P., Leffers, J., & Vásquez, M. D. (2021). Nursing’s pivotal role in global climate action. BMJ, 373, n1049. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1049
• Cimprich, A., Santillán‐Saldivar, J., Thiel, C. L., Sonnemann, G., & Young, S. B. (2019). Potential for industrial ecology to support healthcare sustainability: Scoping review of a fragmented literature and conceptual framework for future research. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 23(6), 1344–1352. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12921
• Dal Mas, F., Cobianchi, L., Piccolo, D., Balch, J., Biancuzzi, H., Biffl, W. L., Campostrini, S., Cicuttin, E., Coccolini, F., Damaskos, D., Filiberto, A. C., Filisetti, C., Fraga, G., Frassini, S., Fugazzola, P., Hardcastle, T., Kaafarani, H. M., Kluger, Y., Massaro, M., … Ansaloni, L. (2024). Are we ready for “green surgery” to promote environmental sustainability in the operating room? Results from the WSES STAR investigation. World Journal of Emergency Surgery, 19(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13017-024-00533-y
• Elabed, S., Shamayleh, A., & Daghfous, A. (2021). Sustainability-oriented innovation in the health care supply chain. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 160, 107564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2021.107564
• Fadhullah, W., Imran, N. I. N., Ismail, S. N. S., Jaafar, M. H., & Abdullah, H. (2022). Household solid waste management practices and perceptions among residents in the East Coast of Malaysia. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12274-7 Faltas, S. F. M., Soliman, S. M., Ahmed, N. G., & Mahmmoud, S. F. (2022). Green practice guideline program regrading waste management on nurses’ knowledge and practice in intensive care units. International Journal of Health Sciences, 6651–6666. https://doi.org/10.53730/ijhs.v6nS8.13942 Felicilda-Reynaldo, R. F. D., Cruz, J. P., Alshammari, F., Obaid, K. B., Rady, H. E. A. E. A., Qtait, M., Alquwez, N., & Colet, P. C. (2018). Knowledge of and attitudes toward climate change and its effects on health among nursing students: A multi-Arab country study. Nursing Forum, 53(2), 179–189. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12240
• Hoxha, G., Simeli, I., Theocharis, D., Vasileiou, A., & Tsekouropoulos, G. (2024). Sustainable Healthcare Quality and Job Satisfaction through Organizational Culture: Approaches and Outcomes. Sustainability, 16(9), 3603. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093603
• Huang, A., Cooke, S. M., Garsden, C., Behne, C., & Borkoles, E. (2024). Transitioning to sustainable, climate-resilient healthcare: insights from a health service staff survey in Australia. BMC Health Services Research, 24(1), 475. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10882-8
• ICN. (2018). Nurses, climate change and health. (cited: 2024, May 24) Retrieved from: https://www.icn.ch/sites/default/files/inlinefiles/PS_E_Nurses_climate%20change_health_0.pdf
• İlaslan, N., & Orak, N. Ş. (2023). Sustainability attitudes in nursing survey: A cross-cultural adaptation and validation study. Journal of Human Sciences, 20(3), 212–222. https://doi.org/10.14687/jhs.v20i3.6352
• Kallio, H., Pietilä, A.-M., Johnson, M., & Kangasniemi, M. (2018). Environmental responsibility in hospital care: Findings from a qualitative study. Journal of Hospital Administration, 7(5), 56. https://doi.org/10.5430/jha.v7n5p56
• Kalogirou, M. R., Dahlke, S., Davidson, S., & Yamamoto, S. (2021). How the hospital context influences nurses’ environmentally responsible practice: A focused ethnography. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(9), 3806–3819. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14936
• Kang, Q. (2020). Library directors’ concerns and attitudes towards going green and sustainability in China: An unexplored area. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 52(2), 382–398. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000618818874
• Kangasniemi, M., Kallio, H., & Pietilä, A. (2014). Towards environmentally responsible nursing: a critical interpretive synthesis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(7), 1465–1478. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12347
• Leal Filho, W. (2021). Non-conventional learning on sustainable development: achieving the SDGs. Environmental Sciences Europe, 33(1), 97. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-021-00525-8
• Lennox, L., Maher, L., & Reed, J. (2018). Navigating the sustainability landscape: a systematic review of sustainability approaches in healthcare. Implementation Science, 13(1), 27. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-017-0707-4
• Lenzen, M., Malik, A., Li, M., Fry, J., Weisz, H., Pichler, P.-P., Chaves, L. S. M., Capon, A., & Pencheon, D. (2020). The environmental footprint of health care: a global assessment. The Lancet Planetary Health, 4(7), e271–e279. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30121-2
• Luque-Alcaraz, O. M., Aparicio-Martínez, P., Gomera, A., & Vaquero-Abellán, M. (2024). The environmental awareness of nurses as environmentally sustainable health care leaders: a mixed method analysis. BMC Nursing, 23(1), 229. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-01895-z
• Morelli, J. (2011). Environmental Sustainability: A Definition for Environmental Professionals. Journal of Environmental Sustainability, 1(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.14448/jes.01.0002
• Ndereyimana, L. (2022). Regulatory Economic Appraisal Is the Core for Business Sustainability. Modern Economy, 13(07), 945–951. https://doi.org/10.4236/me.2022.137050
• Nyholm, L., Salmela, S., Nyström, L., & Koskinen, C. (2018). Sustainability in care through an ethical practice model. Nursing Ethics, 25(2), 264–272. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733017714303
• Okada, A., & Gray, P. (2023). A Climate Change and Sustainability Education Movement: Networks, Open Schooling, and the ‘CARE-KNOW-DO’ Framework. Sustainability, 15(3), 2356. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032356
• Pencheon, D. (2014). Sustainable development in healthcare. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 20(1), 22–25. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjhc.2014.20.1.22
• Peres, R. R., Camponogara, S., Silva, A. C., Jacobi, E. de O., Bataglin, M. S., & Soares, S. G. A. (2014). Environmental responsibility through the view of basic health attention workers. Revista de Pesquisa Cuidado é Fundamental Online, 6(3), 1090–1104. https://doi.org/10.9789/2175-5361.2014.v6i3.1090-1104
• Preux, L., & Rizmie, D. (2018). Beyond financial efficiency to support environmental sustainability in economic evaluations. Future Healthcare Journal, 5(2), 103–107. https://doi.org/10.7861/futurehosp.5-2-103
• Roden, J. E., & Lewis, T. (2021). Looking beyond Nursing Education Practice to Include Sustainable Health-Care Systems Processes. Creative Nursing, 27(4), 251–256. https://doi.org/10.1891/cn-2021-0014
• Sharma, S. K., & Tripathi, V. B. (2022). Sustainable Healthcare System: Providers Initiatives for Quality Improvement of Healthcare Organisation. Journal of Health Management, 26(2), 293–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/09720634221128727
• Stacey, D., Pomey, M. P., O’Connor, A. M., & Graham, I. D. (2006). Adoption and sustainability of decision support for patients facing health decisions: an implementation case study in nursing. Implementation Science, 1(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-1-17
• Topf, M. (2005). Psychological Explanations and Greening Hospitals. Health & Care Management Review, 30(1), 2–8.
• Tun, M. S. (2019). Fulfilling a new obligation: Teaching and learning of sustainable healthcare in the medical education curriculum. Medical Teacher, 41(10), 1168–1177. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2019.1623870
• Turzáková, J., Kohanová, D., Solgajová, A., & Sollár, T. (2024). Association Between Climate Change and Patient Health Outcomes: a Mixed-methods Systematic Review. 1–24. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4346650/v1
• Vaishnavi, V., & Suresh, M. (2023). Modelling the factors in implementation of environmental sustainability in healthcare organisations. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 34(1), 137–158. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-10-2021-0243
• Weaver, H. J., Blashki, G. A., Capon, A. G., & McMichael, A. J. (2010). Climate change and Australia’s healthcare system - risks, research and responses. Australian Health Review, 34(4), 441. https://doi.org/10.1071/AH09829
• WHO. (2023). Climate change. (cited: 2024, June 12) Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health
• WHO. (2021). Health and Climate Change Survey. (cited: 2024, May 16) Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240038509
• Zanobini, P., Del Riccio, M., Lorini, C., & Bonaccorsi, G. (2024). Empowering Sustainable Healthcare: The Role of Health Literacy. Sustainability, 16(10), 3964. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16103964