ASNA Environmental Health and Safety Report from the RN No Harm Train the Trainer Conference April 15-17, 2005, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Alabama Nurse, Jun-Aug 2005 by Wilson, Helen

The mission of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is to transform the health care industry worldwide without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. There are currently over 430 organizations from 52 countries with membership in HCWH. Of these, 27 are nursing organizations. The American Nurses Association (ANA) promotes the HCWH through the Occupational and Environmental Health Committee by establishing the RN No Harm initiative which addresses the primary dictum for registered nurses as health care professionals to first "do no harm." ANA promotes the safety and quality of patient care as well as the health and safety of registered nurses and other health care professionals and health care workers. ANA is also dedicated to assuring that health care practices "do no harm" to the public health environment.

This conference focused on nurses as the environmental health advocates and was funded in part by a grant from the Beldon Foundation. ASNA signed onto this project in 2002 when Karen Pakkala was the ED. Unfortunately we did not meet our commitments so unfortunately we must play "catch up." Which means that many State Associations have completed the growing pains that we are now facing.

Since Florence -Nightingale in 1859 said "... what nursing has to do ... is to put patients in the best condition for nature to act upon him" we as a profession have been charged with not only improving the patient's conditions but also the health and safety of our environment. An environmental stewardship.

The presentations focused on mercury elimination in health care settings, waste reduction, recycling, appropriate use of red bags for contaminated material, dioxin awareness, eliminating or at least stronger guidelines on the use of incineration by health care facilities, etc.

This was a highly informative but very intense conference and I am committed to doing awareness programs throughout the State of Alabama as well as getting the Alabama State Nurses Association's Environmental Health and Safety Committee involved in promoting HCWH through the RN NO HARM Program.

Anyone wishing to have a presentation on RN NO HARM please contact the ASNA office.

Another interesting bit is The Luminary Project which is a new interactive web site that highlights the work of nurses who develop successful strategies for environmental health and social change. The purpose of this project is to recognize and illuminate the creativity and strategic endeavors of nurses who have successfully fostered social change addressing the environment and its impact on human health. Beacons are nursing associations, specialty organizations, and collaborating on nonprofits that endorse the purpose of The Luminary Project. ASNA is a Beacon and we will have a hot link on our web site the Luminary Project web site. Be sure to check it out and feel free to nominate a nurse that you know who meets the qualifications.

The Luminary Project is a new interactive web site that highlights the work of nurses who develop successful strategies for environmental health and social change. Strategic ideas become doors of opportunity for those who realize the present, have learned from the past, and are prepared for the future. Nurses have been opening doors for a long time. They are significant forces for social change, and we want to recognize these nurses, their ideas, and their strategies. We also want to offer others a way to learn from their efforts.

Beacons

Beacons are nursing association, specialty organizations, and collaborating nonprofits that:

1. Endorse the purpose of The Luminary Project with the organization's name, logo on the web site, and a hot link to their organization's web site;

2. Illuminate the project and environmental health among their members and the public in publications, web site, and other communication;

3. Encourage nurses who are active in environmental health matters to become Luminaries, and

4. Guide traffic to The Luminary Project web site.

Information about The Luminary Project

What is a Nursing Luminary?

1. Luminaries are nurses who have developed successful strategies for health by addressing environmental factors which cause and/or contribute to health, or to illness, disability disease, or premature death.

2. They bring the very best thinking to social change at any level: in individuals and families; in groups of all kinds; hospitals, in health centers, and other organizations; in communities and regions; and in entire nations and world.

3. They engage others at many levels, foster new thinking and strategic intervention, and lead the way in generating support that fosters social change concerning the environment and its impact on human health.

The purposes of the Nursing Luminary are to:

1. Recognize and illuminate the creativity and strategic endeavors of nurses who have successfully fostered social change addressing the environment and its impact on human health.