Spotlight on Nursing and Sustainable Healthcare

Wednesday, 30 August, 2023

Nurses are part of a community of individuals who are committed to promoting health and well-being. As the largest part of the health and care workforce, nurses are well-positioned to speak out on and educate their patients about the relationships between climate change and health.

This month, we are delighted to shine the light on Sustainable Nursing with the latest news and projects in the field.

Greener NHS, how nurses play a major role in implementing sustainable changes in their healthcare practice.

Nurses, health, and sustainability: what is the link and why should you care?

Why did you decide to become a nurse? There are certainly many causes, but one aspect that most nurses have is a desire to help people. Sustainable practise can improve the care you provide not only to the patient in front of you, but also to the larger communities we serve (local and global) and the natural world on which we rely.

Nurses have a unique and trusted voice within the healthcare filed to motivate health professionals, patients, the public, and policymakers to take climate action. They have the potential to be leaders, outlining their vision and the opportunities of a sustainable nursing practise. This episode from the Mental Health Nurses Association (MHNA) explores the concept of climate change and health and what this means for nursing practice. It also offers a good introduction to sustainability within the context of critical care and nursing.

Greening the NHS: using the Green Team Competition to effect change.

As a clinical nurse specialist in supportive and palliative care at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Angela examines the practical steps nurses can take to address the climate crisis in their daily practice in a series of essays for Nursing Times.  In her paper, she discusses the benefits of holding a Green Team Competiotion with CSH to encourage sustainable changes to working practice.

How Schools of Nursing and Midwifery can embed SusQI across their whole cohort?

An example from our SusQI Showcase 2023.

Dr Jocelyn Cornish, Deputy Head Adult Nursing & Senior Lecturer in Nursing Education shares how sustainability was incorporated into quality improvement education within the faculty curricula at King's College London.

King's College London has worked with the CSH since 2021 to integrate SusQI into their nursing, midwifery and palliative care curricula. A Sustainability in Quality Improvement workshop is now delivered across 12 programmes and has received positive feedback from students. Projects completed by postgraduate students have resulted in measurable financial, clinical and sustainability improvements. 

Through our SusQI education programme, KCL has been recognised as an Established SusQI Beacon Site. This Sustainability in Quality Improvement Beacon Site status gives recognition to institutions and organisations integrating sustainability into quality improvement teaching and training. Beacon Sites are recognised as leading in empowering staff and/or students to design and implement sustainable quality improvement and transformation.

Two key factors in the success of this partnership include the support received from our SusQI experts and the alignment of the SusQI programme criteria with the university's climate and sustainability strategic objectives. 

CSH ‘CoDHcast’ with the Council of Deans: improving healthcare in a holistic way with Sustainability in Quality Improvement (SusQI).

Siobhan Parslow-Williams, QI Education Lead at the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, talks to Dorothea Baltruks about the link between the climate crisis and healthcare. In this podcast, she talks about the Sustainable Quality Improvement framework for healthcare professionals as well as learning resources and the NHS’s plans to become the first net zero healthcare system in the world.

Honours and national recognitions: nurses’ contribution to sustainability efforts.

London Nursing School recognised for sustainability teaching.

Earlier this year, the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King’s College London was awarded Beacon Site Status by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare.
Achieving the status means the faculty has successfully embedded “sustainability principles” into its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for student nurses and midwives. 

Looking for support to embed SusQI in your institution and achieve Beacon Site status? 

  1. Enrolling key staff in the SusQI Academy
  2. Running a Green Ward Competition
  3. Creating a Sustainability Fellowship or Scholar Programme within your institution

National recognition for leading projects in Sustainable Nursing!

Congratulations to Alex Langstaff and Holly Slyne for their nomination to key nursing awards!

Take part in the Sustainable Nursing movement.

Join our network now and start sharing brilliant resources and ideas with like-minded professionals.

The Nursing Sustainability Network, coordinated by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, is an online community for nurses, students, nurse educators, and retired nurses from around the world who take climate change seriously and want to collaborate to determine what this means for nursing practice. Members of the network can exchange practice and resources, discuss ideas, and collaborate to enhance nursing's environmental effect. Join now for free and start sharing brilliant resources and ideas with like-minded professionals.

Don’t miss out on the upcoming events and conferences!

  • 18 September 2023: Nursing Susnet Networking Event with Clare Nash RGN MSc, a senior nurse in clinical procurement, The Black Country Alliance Procurement Team: Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, and The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust. Clare Nash is an expert in Green Procurement and has recently developed a Green Procurement Tool which was recently published in the Nursing Times.
    This is a free event hosted by CSH Nursing Sustainability Network and open to any nurses from all backgrounds including student nurses, educators and researchers. We meet on the third Monday of every month at 7 pm BST to learn about the latest developments in the sustainable nursing field. This is a chance to find out what is going on, and how to get involved and network with like-minded nurses.
    Tickets to sign up here.
     
  • 2 - 5 October 2023: ’In the Spotlight - Nurses Leading Care in People's Homes and Communities'
    The Queen's Nursing Institute is organising a conference and it will feature a large range of uplifting and absorbing speakers to help you return to work feeling energised and connected. On October 4, Rachel Stancliffe, CSH Founder and Director, and Siobhan Parslow-Williams, CSH QI Education Lead are presenting a talk on Sustainability and healthcare.
    For more information and to register follow the link.
     
  • 10 - 11 November 2023: RCNi ‘Nursing Live’ conference in Liverpool
    Nursing Live, the first event of its kind in the UK, will bring together thousands of nurses for a full day of high-quality professional development, peer-to-peer collaboration, interactive activities, and much more. Nursing Live will support your CPD advancement, enhance your skills and educate your practise with over 100 lectures, demonstrations and masterclasses, as well as unique zones focused on the very latest clinical and technical advances in all parts of healthcare.
    Tickets are now available and free of charge.

Interested to find out more about incorporating environmental sustainability into practice?

The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare runs a range of excellent courses on a variety of topics. By taking our courses, you will be able to understand how sustainable healthcare principles apply to nursing and how to incorporate Sustainable Quality Improvement in your Nursing practice. 
Learn more here.

As nurses, you can now get £10 off any course!

Simply enter your voucher code: SusNursing2023 at the third step of your registration on our booking platform.