Environmental Health
Standard 18 of the Standards of Professional Nursing Practice found in Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 4th Edition, reminds us that “The registered nurse practices in an environmentally safe and healthy manner.” This can prove difficult with healthcare’s utilization of: fossil fuels for power and transportation, single use devices and goods, toxic chemicals and materials, and planet-unfriendly sourced foods. Healthcare’s multiple waste streams compound the issue further.
However, as ANA’s position statement Nurses’ Role in Addressing Global Climate Change, Climate Justice, and Health notes, nurses are always a source of hope and innovation, especially in this most challenging of situations. Discover what nurses, their associations, and their employers can do to improve planetary health by exploring the following resources.
ANA Resources
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Nurses’ Role in Addressing Global Climate Change, Climate Justice, and Health
2023 ANA Position Statement -
Nurses' Role in Recognizing Educating and Advocating for Healthy Energy Choices
2012 ANA HOD Resolution -
Pharmaceutical Waste
2010 ANA Position Statement -
Safety and Effectiveness of Reprocessed Single Use Devices in Healthcare
ANA Resolution 2010 House of Delegates -
Global Climate Change and Human Health
ANA Resolution 2008 HOD -
Healthy Food in Health Care
ANA Resolution 2008 HOD -
ANA Principles of Environmental Health for Nursing Practice with Implementation Strategies
Nursing as a health care profession and environmental health as a public health discipline share many of the same roots. This document articulates and expands on ten principles to guide registered nurses in providing nursing care in a manner that is environmentally safe and healthy. By doing so, this document challenges nurses to rediscover their profession’s traditional environmental health roots and to operate from these roots and principles in their roles as health care advocates and providers. -
Inappropriate Use of Antimicrobials in Agriculture
ANA 2004 House of Delegates Resolution
Additional Resources
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Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
A network of nurses from around the country (and world) who are acting on the notion that our environment and health are inextricably connected. -
Health Care Without Harm
Global organization working to improve healthcare’s environmental health and justice -
CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health
bills itself as a “one-stop shop for environmental public health data”. -
EPA’s website on Children’s Environmental Health
Online Resources for Healthcare Providers