Sustainable Nursing Practice

Royal College of Nursing (2019) Responding to climate change - RCN position statement. London: RCN.

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Royal College of Nursing Sustainability - why it matters in health and care, and what the RCN is doing about it.

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Royal College of Nursing (2021) Leaving no-one behind: the role of the nursing profession in achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals in the UK. London: RCN. 

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Royal College of Nursing (2018) Freedom of information follow up report on management of waste in the NHS. London: RCN.

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Romanello M, Napoli C di, Green C, K et al. (2023) The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for a health-centred response in a world facing irreversible harms, The Lancet, 402(10419), pp. 2346–2394.

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Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (2020) Space to breathe: valuing green space at NHS sites for staff wellbeing. Centre for Sustainable Healthcare. Oxford: CSH. 

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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2019) Clean air strategy 2019.

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Health Care Without Harm Europe (2020) Health Care Without Harm.

• HCWH Europe is a non-profit European coalition of health organisations working to transform health care worldwide so that it reduces its environmental footprint.
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NHS England: Delivering a net zero NHS.

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NHS National Services Scotland: Access climate change and sustainability tools.

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NHS Scotland: NHS Sustainability action.

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Public Health Wales: Health and sustainability.

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Scottish Government and NHS Assure (2022) Consultation draft: NHS Scotland climate emergency and sustainability strategy, 2022-2026.

• Please note the consultation is now closed.
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NurSus (2019) NurSusTOOLKIT project. 

• The NurSus project aims to develop innovative teaching and learning approaches for Sustainability Literacy and Competency (SLC) within nurse education.
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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2022) Climate change 2022: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the sixth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press.

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UK Health Alliance on Climate Change: Our Commitments 

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United Nations Development Programme (no date) United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. SDG knowledge. 

• The United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by UN Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for people and the planet, now and into the future. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
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• Sustainable Development Goal 3 - Health
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World Health Organisation (2023) Climate change and health, Geneva: WHO.

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Many thanks to Rebecca Gibbs from the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, Professor Janet Richardson from Plymouth University and Mark Platt (former RCN Policy Manager) for their help with putting this subject guide together.

Akhtar R and Palagiano C (2017) Climate change and air pollution: the impact on human health in developed and developing countries. Cham: Springer.

• Access through RCN library

Berners-Lee M (2020) How bad are bananas? The carbon footprint of everything. London: Profile Books.

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Davies L, Daellenbach R and Kensington M (2021) Sustainability, midwifery and birth. 2nd edn. Oxford: Routledge.

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Gao M, Wang Z and Carmichael G (2021) Air pollution, climate and health an integrated perspective on their interactions. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

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Gerwig K (2014) Greening health care: how hospitals can heal the planet. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Levy B S and Patz J (2015) Climate change and public health. New York: Oxford University Press.

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Marmot M (2015) The health gap: the challenge of an unequal world. London: Bloomsbury.

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Marshall G (2015) Don't even think about it: why our brains are wired to ignore climate change. Paperback. London: Bloomsbury.

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Mohrman S A and Shani A B (2012) Organizing for sustainable healthcare. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited.

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Pinkerton K E and Rom W N (2021) Climate change and global public health. Cham: Springer.

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Rich C R, Singleton J K and Wadhwa S S (2018) Sustainability for healthcare management: a leadership imperative. 2nd edn. Milton: Routledge Ltd.

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Rosa W (2017) A new era in global health: nursing and the United Nations 2030 agenda for sustainable development. New York: Springer.

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Marchand D, Weiss, K and Pol E (2023) 100 Key Concepts in Environmental Psychology. 1st edn. Milton: Routledge. 

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Robertson M (2021) Sustainability principles and practice. 3rd edn. London: Routledge.

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Sieh E and McGregor J (2017) Human dignity: establishing worth and seeking solutions. London:  Palgrave Macmillan. 

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Schroeder K, Thompson T, Frith K and Pencheon D (2013) Sustainable healthcare. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

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Use these links to see details of books the RCN libraries hold on each topic.

• Sustainability
• Climate change
• Environmental health

Use these links to see details of journal articles on each topic.

• Sustainability
• Climate change

RCN exhibition: You mean the world: nursing in a climate crisis

• The exhibition explores the past, present and future of nursing in the face of the climate emergency. Themes include industrial nursing and air pollution, the impact of reusable vs. single-use nursing tools and nursing activism.
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• Library events

GreenFILE database.

• GreenFILE is a database covering research into the impact of humans on the environment. Subjects covered include pollution and its effects on human health, as well as waste management and recycling.
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The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare publications

• The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare offers strategic input and consultancy on sustainable healthcare research and practice to national and local programmes.
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The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare - Green Walking in Mental Health Recovery.

• Green Walking in Mental Health Recovery aims to promote and improve access to green spaces for general adult psychiatric inpatients. It is funded by a grant from the Network for Social Change and delivered by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare in partnership with the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
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TED: 5 questions about climate change.

• Five short animations explaining concepts and answering important questions related to the climate.
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WWF UK: How big is your environmental footprint?

• Environmental footprint calculator.
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Royal College of Nursing - The lifecycle of a medical glove.

Barts Health NHS Trust - Cleaner air for East London.

Plymouth University: Nursing sustainability by design.

Royal College of Physicians - Healthcare sustainability.

TED (2021) The tragedy of air pollution and an urgent demand for clean air: Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah.