Anthony Vesco RN, MSN
Contributor: Nursing Green Program
I have been in Emergency Room nursing for more than 12 years and I am proud to be helping our Veterans. It is exciting to become a part of The Nursing Office Team.
My goal is to speak to you about the importance of how Nursing can take an active role within the environmental revolution that is happening right before our very eyes. I have always been an advocate for environmental issues. Recently, I have found myself researching and learning more about how small collective measures can make great differences in the future of our environment.
The Green Movement is all around us today. Every time we turn on a radio or television, we see an advertisement for a company that is seeking ways to make a difference in their environmental footprint. This can be found in simple ideas like recycling, paperless statements, the use of less caustic cleaning agents, waste management, energy conservation and the development of renewable clean energy sources. These environmental efforts are pertinent in healthcare as well.
Nursing remains the backbone of health systems worldwide. If we strive for better health for all people, it will be through evidence that we are a strong profession that is committed to a sound nursing practice. Nurses worldwide should be engaged in all aspects of health policy as well as politics. We should be taking an active interest in how environmental concerns can affect healthcare both in our communities and throughout the world.
My New Year’s resolution for 2012 is to do my part in making my own environmental impact. My hope is to educate as many people in my neighborhood and in our profession about how small measures taken today, can make a tremendous impact for the future.
Start with baby steps. Do you make an effort to recycle in your home?
One Green Dot at a time
Connecting Little Green Dots for a Greener Planet
Hospital and medical wastes contribute more than significant amount of pollution in the environment. As nurses, we are very much aware of how much garbage we accumulate everyday. If we will all do simple little things and efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle, that would make our earth a million times greener. If we all remember, in the theories of nursing, the person and the environment can never be separated, therefore, nurses should move forward nursing both the people and the earth that host them.
Green Dot #1
Crossing the First Barrier: “I and Me”
When you are in the bedside, you can only see white linens under and over the patient. You will not even think of how green you can be in any way in this environment. Awareness should start from within us, in our personal lives and habits and everyday lifestyles. We should think green to save the planet and we will find out that practice will follow. The next time you will change those linens, you will think again: do I have to? Is it soiled? Think of the manpower and energy costs to bring those linens back to your bedside.
Green Dot #2
Save water in a lot of ways
Source: www.americanwater.com |
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