The Many Ways Nurses Can Become Champions of Sustainability

Putting concerns about the environment into practice.

Matthew Lindsley

Matthew Lindsley, MPH, MSN, RN, PHNA-BC, is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and is engaged in clinical trials as an oncology nurse at the National Institutes of Health. He spends his weekends working the soil, caring for animals, and volunteering with a sustainable agriculture initiative to improve the quality and resiliency of local food systems in his community. He is one of a growing legion of nurses who are putting their concerns about the environment into action both inside and outside the workplace.

Our AJN Reports article in the April edition of the American Journal of Nursing, “Nurses Step Up to Address Climate Change and Health,” profiles nurses like Lindsley who are researching the effects of rising temperatures on farmworkers, educating the public about air quality, advocating for policy change, and reducing the waste and emissions generated by the health care sector. The nurses in the article speak about their work and why nurses are well suited to tackle environmental challenges.

Farmer, nurse, researcher, connector.

Lindsley—or “Farmer Matt,” as colleagues know him—is currently pursuing a doctorate at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He hopes his research will eventually connect local food producers in Pennsylvania, where he farms, with health care facilities such as nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. His goals are twofold:

• to improve the quality of food for patients and staff
• and to bolster the food system’s resiliency to supply chain disruptions, such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic

“People want to eat healthy,” he says, “but there are often barriers in the food system—the affordability, access, or just education about how to cook fresh fruits and vegetables.”

He is using a fellowship he received from the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) to explore how he might combine his role at the U.S. Public Health Service, his passion for farming, and his concerns about environmental health.

Resources to help you start acting on your concerns.

Nurses were among the many health care workers participating in the 2019 Global Climate Strike in Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments.

If you would like to act on your concerns about the environment and health, we’ve listed some places below to get you started. There are literally hundreds of organizations—local, state, national, and international—working to improve environmental health outcomes, so if you don’t find what you’re looking for below, keep going!

Organizations

• The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) is the nation’s largest organization tackling environmental health challenges from a nursing perspective. ANHE’s approach combines environmental concerns with a focus on social justice. Most of the nurses profiled in our article took part in ANHE’s Environmental Health Nurse Fellowship program, which gave them guidance in determining how they wanted to take action.
• The American Academy of Nursing aims to advance policymaking and research through its Expert Panel on Environmental and Public Health. In 2023, the Academy sponsored a Policy Dialogue on Nursing Leadership in Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector, captured in this AJN Reports.
• The American Public Health Association (APHA) has a dedicated section for environmental health. Each APHA member section is designed to connect public health professionals for the purposes of professional and policy development around shared interests.
• The Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics is a network of clinics and clinicians that support one another in spreading best practices for addressing environmental influences on health.
• The Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment/Association des infirmières et infirmiers pour l’environnement (CANE-AIIE) provides a platform for Canadian nurses to advocate for environmental health and justice.
• Health Care Without Harm advocates for health care systems to transition towards less environmentally impactful activities. It is guided by the triple goal of protecting public health from climate change, transforming supply chains, and building leadership for environmental health. Of particular interest to nurses will be its Nurses Climate Challenge, an initiative launched in partnership with ANHE to support nurses who want to educate others about climate change.
• Nurses Drawdown, a joint project of ANHE and Project Drawdown, is working to reduce greenhouse gases by fostering a community of nurses who believe that “optimal health requires good nutrition, adequate mobility, a healthy environment, and social support.”
• Practice Greenhealth (formerly Hospitals for a Healthy Environment) is a networking and innovation hub dedicated to developing and disseminating state-of-the-art sustainability solutions for health care organizations.
• The UK Health Alliance on Climate Change is a broad network of health care professionals, dedicated to raising awareness about the risks of climate change and ways to mitigate it. Its member organizations include the Florence Nightingale Foundation and the Royal College of Nursing.

Tools and Resources

• Many groups offer education for nurses who want to learn more about environmental health. These include:
  • ANHE’s free textbook on environmental health nursing
  • The Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education
  • The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF)
  • The Planetary Health Alliance
• Envirofacts is an open-access database of environmental information, searchable by location, and maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Washington State University launched the Climate and Health Tool (formerly Climate, Health, and Nursing Tool (Chant)) in 2017 to investigate health care professionals’ understanding of climate change. The CHANT survey is used to deepen understanding of where knowledge gaps exist in the world of environmental health.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) provides guidance for climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable health care facilities.

Looking for more?

Try visiting the American Nurses Association (ANA) Innovation Advisory Committee on Planetary and Global Health resource compendium, or perusing the Global Climate & Health Alliance list of member organizations.

Like “Farmer Matt,” you don’t have to settle for wearing just one hat. We hope the resources above will help empower you to make positive impacts, whether that’s in your workplace, your community, or in the halls of power!

Nicole Fauteux is founder and principal at Propensity LLC, a communications firm serving educational institutions and nonprofits focused on health care, health policy, and the health professions.

Benjamin Simon is a marketing and communications professional pursuing a graduate degree in environmental sustainability and management.

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