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Philadelphia Nursing Student Wins National Award On Greening Hospitals
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Erin Johnson, BSN, wins the first prize for her essay, “Voices of Students,” in the annual Health Care Without Harm’s The Luminary Project Nursing Student Essay. The award recognizes the contribution of nurses in addressing environmental impacts by hospitals.
A Philadelphia resident, Ms. Johnson is currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania and is enrolled in a dual degree program, Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Public Health. At the time of submission, she was completing her Bachelors in Nursing.
As the winner, Ms. Johnson will receive a scholarship to attend CleanMed 2010, the international conference on greening hospitals, to be held May 11-13 in Baltimore, MD.
CleanMed is the largest and oldest conference for greening the healthcare sector. It offers workshops on all aspects of sustainability. Keynote speakers this year include Annie Leonard, creator of The Story of Stuff, Joseph J. Romm, climate expert, and Steve Owens, US. Environmental Protection Agency. Scores of service and product vendors that meet strict sustainability criteria will be showcased.
Ms. Johnson’s essay addressed ways that nursing students can add their voices to advocate for changes that benefit patients and the larger community. Ms. Johnson volunteers with the Women’s Health & Environmental Network to engage hospitals to develop green teams to reduce their impacts on the environment.
In this capacity, she has provided resources and guidance to a local hospital and has linked her course assignments to her environmental advocacy work in healthcare.
Ms. Johnson’s commitment to championing health through environmental action is evident in her actions. In addition to completing a dual-degree program at Penn and working part-time, she finds time to volunteer at WHEN. She exemplifies the role of nurses in addressing environmental issues in the healthcare setting.
WHEN is a local non-profit that has worked with the healthcare sector to reduce their impact on the environment while protecting people’s health.
Key initiatives have included the Mercury-Free Philly Campaign in which hospitals hosted the collection of over 15,000 fever thermometers in exchange for digitals; Sustainable Food programs that help hospitals understand their role in the food system and look systemically at changing their purchasing practices to benefit patients, employees and communities; Green Hospitals Pilot which brought together federal, state, nonprofit organizations and 20 hospitals to collaborate on waste minimization, pharmaceutical waste management, green building, and environmentally preferred purchasing.
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5/10/2010 |
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