{"title":"Developing a Green Nursing Practice in a Profession That Contributes to Climate Change: One Nurse's Journey.","authors":"Louisa A Shelby","doi":"10.4037/aacnacc2024804","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The health care industry accounts for 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with hospitals being the largest contributor. Critical care units create 3 times the greenhouse emissions of other hospital patient care units. Health care contributions to environmental harm include medical waste disposal, toxicant exposure, and pollutants. Integrating green practices into hospitals, especially in intensive care units, can seem overwhelming, with barriers including time constraints, lack of leadership and organizational support, and ignorance of green practices. Nursing is a socially responsible discipline committed to improving the health of individuals and communities; values of environmental stewardship and the desire to minimize poor health outcomes caused by climate change do not always align with hospital policies or clinician practices. This article addresses how nurses can confront the complex environmental problems in the workplace, apply sustainability principles to develop a green nursing practice, and collectively influence the future of national and global health.</p>","PeriodicalId":46461,"journal":{"name":"AACN Advanced Critical Care","volume":"35 4","pages":"310-319"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"AACN Advanced Critical Care","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4037/aacnacc2024804","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The health care industry accounts for 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with hospitals being the largest contributor. Critical care units create 3 times the greenhouse emissions of other hospital patient care units. Health care contributions to environmental harm include medical waste disposal, toxicant exposure, and pollutants. Integrating green practices into hospitals, especially in intensive care units, can seem overwhelming, with barriers including time constraints, lack of leadership and organizational support, and ignorance of green practices. Nursing is a socially responsible discipline committed to improving the health of individuals and communities; values of environmental stewardship and the desire to minimize poor health outcomes caused by climate change do not always align with hospital policies or clinician practices. This article addresses how nurses can confront the complex environmental problems in the workplace, apply sustainability principles to develop a green nursing practice, and collectively influence the future of national and global health.
期刊介绍：
AACN Advanced Critical Care is a quarterly, peer-reviewed publication of in-depth articles intended for experienced critical care and acute care clinicians at the bedside, advanced practice nurses, and clinical and academic educators. Each issue includes a topic-based symposium, feature articles, and columns of interest to critical care and progressive care clinicians. AACN Advanced Critical Care contains concisely written, practical information for immediate use and future reference. Continuing education units are available for selected articles in each issue. AACN Advanced Critical Care is an official publication of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
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