Health professionals are ready to lead the charge in making their facilities more eco-friendly 

IT SEEMS EVERYONE is going green these days. The healthcare industry, with the help of its health professionals, is beginning to recognize the benefits of green practices in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Green practices are being used to cut down on energy and water consumption, reduce waste and, most importantly, improve patient care.

"Green is good. It is healthier for patients and staff," says Anna Gilmore Hall, executive director of Healthcare Without Harm, an international coalition working to reduce the environmental impact of the healthcare industry.

In healthcare, going green can mean many things. Hospitals have chosen to use safer building materials, purchase food that is grown locally, make recycling a priority, replace harmful cleaners and disinfectants with healthier and safer products, and even create healing gardens. Whether a facility is built green from the ground up, or makes smaller changes like eliminating the use of hazardous cleaning products or starting a recycling program, employing green practices can improve the health of patients and workers. "There are so many things we can do to make change. The scope is unlimited," says Gilmore Hall.

Recently, hospitals have been more willing to make the effort necessary to go green. "We are seeing hospitals step up to the plate," says Gilmore Hall. "Eleven years ago, we were pounding at their doors. Now they are pounding at ours."

Making the case

Healthcare workers can do a lot to help make changes in their facilities. They can make the case to management that green practices make sense for the entire healthcare community- patients, staff and visitors.

For example, Jane Nabors and her nurse colleagues at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center in Portland, Ore., worked together to get rid of products that contained latex and PVC (polyvinyl chloride), such as feeding tubes and IV bags, in its maternity department. PVC products—which have harmful toxins—are commonly used in maternity departments, especially in neonatal intensive care units.

The maternity department nurses didn't want the babies exposed to toxins right from birth. "We wanted the babies to start life out properly," says Nabors, a nurse in Sunnyside's special care nursery and a member of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals.

When the hospital decided to redesign its special care nursery, Nabors, along with fellow nurses Teri Patch and Lora Eberhardt, sat on a committee with management to provide input on the redesign. The nurses used research on PVC products to convince management that the maternity department needed to get rid of these products and find alternatives. The units in the maternity department gradually phased out the products and, by the time the special care unit opened in September 2007, the department was latex- and PVC-free.

Create change

Healthcare workers can influence the decisions of hospital management when it comes to going green. If you are frustrated that your hospital doesn't recycle, point out ways to institute programs for recycling or reducing waste, advises Gilmore Hall. "If you are aware of problems, take your concerns to a committee or, better yet, get involved. Get on the committee."

Healthcare workers also can help their hospital management understand that reducing waste and addressing things like air quality not only improve patient care, but also save money. "Anytime you can go to management and say you can improve patient care and save money, it gets their attention," says Gilmore Hall.

Going green also makes for good public relations in the community. Healthcare workers should point out to management that going green shows the community the hospital is doing its part to be a good environmental steward. It is doing what's right. Not going green is a disservice to ourselves, our patients and the community, Gilmore Hall explains. "No employee should be ashamed or afraid to go to their employer and say we're missing the boat if we're not doing this."

The union role

Unions and their members can do more to promote change for the green too, by educating themselves and others about the benefits of going green, talking about safer alternatives to certain chemicals or medical products, and collaborating with others groups to make change. Given the obvious link between healthy people and healthy environments, unions can help hospital management begin to think about becoming more environmentally friendly as part of its mission.

"Now more than ever, it's important for healthcare unions and their members to be involved in implementing green policies and practices that will improve everyone's health," says Darryl Alexander, the AFT's health and safety expert.

Joanne Dudsak, the president of Health Professionals and Allied Employees, Local 4147, at Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus, N.J., is part of an effort to help educate service and maintenance workers, who are constantly exposed to harsh cleaning products. When Dudsak learned that workers at her hospital were stripping floors, dumping trash and cleaning rooms with no protective equipment other than the latex gloves nurses use for patient care, she approached management about providing them with training. Her requests were denied, but Dudsak didn't stop at no. She partnered with the New Jersey Work Environment Council to present workshops to service and maintanence workers on chemical hazards in the workplace. Dudsak, whose local represents 450 nurses and service and maintenance workers, plans to negotiate for protective gear for them when their contract is up in June 2009.

There are many more opportunities for unions and their members to get involved in the greening of their facilities. Healthcare workers can encourage their union leadership to negotiate contract language that would give workers a place at the table when decisions are made about design or health and safety issues. A union's health and safety committee can have a huge impact on educating the healthcare community, Gilmore Hall points out. "It's important to get the right people on committees, and then give them the tools and resources they need to make proper decisions."

The AFT's Alexander agrees. "If members are involved in the decision-making process, they can ensure that the products or programs they select work the way they are supposed to, and that workers receive the right amount of training if necessary."

Too important to ignore

It may be hard for health professionals to address their concerns about recycling or green cleaning when they face so many other challenges—such as short-staffing, increased workloads and mandatory overtime—but these concerns are too important to ignore.
A December 2007 survey of 1,500 nurses shows the importance of these concerns. The survey findings suggest a link between serious health problems such as cancer, asthma and birth defects, and the duration and intensity of exposure to hazardous chemicals.
On a typical day, healthcare workers are exposed to all sorts of chemical agents, ranging from sterilizing chemicals, housekeeping cleaners, residue from drug preparations, and radiation. There are no mandatory safety standards in place for most of these hazardous substances, the study notes.

To stay safe and healthy, "healthcare workers must demand the use of safer products and protective measures to control exposures to hazardous agents in the workplace," says Gilmore Hall. "It's important to know there are safer alternatives that are healthier for patients and staff. Healthcare workers must get educated about the risk of exposure, become involved in the decision-making process and learn about safer alternatives."