Other Environmental Resources
- Taking an Exposure History, a monograph by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) includes an Exposure History Form and discusses how to use this tool to assess environmental and occupational exposures is available at:
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HEC/CSEM/exphistory/pdffiles/exposure_history.pdf -
National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF): NEEF provides environmental education for health professionals, the adult public, business managers, and school children. www.neefusa.org
NEEF has undertaken several projects to incorporate environmental health into health care provider education under the Health Care Provider Initiative. These projects include: Children's Environmental Health Faculty Champions, Pediatric Asthma Initiative, Pediatric Environmental History Initiative, and Pesticides Initiative.
- Environmental Health Assessment Guide for a Home and Family, developed at the environmental health education center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing
http://envirn.umaryland.edu/Kellogg%20Curriculum/1_HPDP_Family_Assessment.pdf - Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E)
The ANA has strengthened its ongoing efforts in advocating for environmental health and safety by joining the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) to advance pollution prevention efforts in the nation’s hospitals. Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), born out of a landmark agreement between the EPA and the AHA in 1998, seeks to eliminate mercury from the health care waste stream by 2002 and reduce the total volume of all types of waste generated in hospitals and health systems by one third by 2002 and by half by 2010 An additional goal is to minimize the production of persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic pollutants.
www.h2e-online.org - The Sustainable Hospitals Project:
The Sustainable Hospitals Project at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell has a web-based clearinghouse for selecting products and work practices that eliminate or reduce occupational and environmental hazards, maintain quality patient care, and contain costs. Information about latex-free medical gloves, safer needle devices, alternatives to polyvinyl chloride products (PVC), and mercury-free products are included at this site.
www.sustainablehospitals.org/cgi-bin/DB_Index.cgi - Health Care Without Harm (HCWH):
Since 1997 ANA, and since 1998 ICN, have been members of the coalition, Health Care Without Harm. The coalition now totals 337 members in 37 countries. The mission of HCWH is to transform the health care industry so it is no longer a source of environmental harm by eliminating pollution in health care practices without compromising safety or care.
www.noharm.org - Green Birthdays:
Important information every healthcare provider should know about the environmental safety of the birth place and practical steps to reduce their own and their patients exposure to toxic chemicals.
www.noharm.org/details.cfm?type=document&id=493 - The National Nurses Survey on Health and Chemical Exposures:
This survey explores the relationship between a nurse's health and on-the-job exposures to chemicals, drugs and other harmful agents. Until September 30, 2005, nurses will be able to enter information online about their workplace experiences and exposures. Nurses will also be able to download information related to hazardous substances and alternative products. www.ewg.org:16080/sites/nurse_survey