Nursing Competencies 

1.  Creates a safe and healthy workplace and professional practice environment: the registered nurse can adjust the milieu of the environment by eliminating harmful odors, and or removing harmful biohazards, as well as adjusting strong lighting, and correct alarms sounding from patient monitoring, or intravenous infusion therapy. Adjustments aim to create a safe and healthy healing place for patients and a nice professional practice environment for healthcare providers. 

2. Assess the environment to identify and address the impact of social determinants of health on risk factors: The registered nurse is held accountable to professional standards to consistently observe the condition of the environment in which they work, to identify and address any issues that arise, and noting any impacts it causes on social determinants of health. 

3. Communicates information about environmental health risks and exposure reduction strategies:

The registered nurse will communicate any information taken in via primary assessment or secondary research on procedures or materials that pose a risk or threat to environmental health. This will include the nurse communicating these risk indicators with healthcare administrators, and or nursing managers. This may go on to include new reduction strategies for exposure to environmental health risks, such as decreasing the concentration or amount of hazardous chemicals used when possible. 

4. Advocates for the implementation of environmental health principles in communities in which they work and live: The registered nurse will uphold the importance of environmental health in one's professional practice, and advocate and or adhere to further implementation, or strategies to be put forth in the work setting he or she works for that promote a more sustainable healthcare system. 

5. Integrates environmental health concepts in practice: The registered nurse will transcend together use of environmental health concepts, and integrate them into their own care practice based upon policies and procedures that adhere to evidence-based practice guidelines that have been proven to promote sustainable health policies to benefit the practices they consistently are implementing in their work setting. 

6.  Fosters a professional enviorment that does not tolerate abusive, destructive, or oppressive behaviors: 

The registered nurse will adhere to the standards of a professional code of conduct, including reporting or adressing issues observed from colleagues, and or patients in the work enviorment. This contributes extremely to fostering a professional enviorment which is physchologically healthy for all. 

7. Promotes evidence-based practices to create a psychologically and physically safe enviorment:

The registered nurse will continuosly advocate for environmental health strategies that are researched, and considered best evidence-based practice strategies, meaning they have been implemented in other health facilities. Including implementation that has shown and proven to benefit the environment, and decrease health hazards, whether that be psychologically, and or physically to promote a safe environment for all. 

8. Uses products or treatments consistent with evidence-based practice to reduce enviormental threats and hazards:

The registered nurse will use products offered that are proven to promote a safer practice environment, and follow suit using eco-friendly cleaning materials that are backed by evidence-based practice, and shown to reduce environmental hazards or risks to the health of others.

9. Reduces environmental health risks to self, colleagues, healthcare consumers, and the world:

The registered nurse will work to reduce environmental health risks to oneself, fellow co-workers, and patients, and will further be aware of current known principles of environmental health, in addition to addressing concerns and or complaints either from staff, or patients. They will additionally know the appropriate reporting method for these concerns to be followed up on in efforts to sustain environmental health. 

10. Promotes sustainable global environmental health policies and conditions that focus on prevention of hazards to people and the natural enviorment:

Lastly, the registered nurse will ensure, and promote a more sustainable healthcare environment globally as these results from the sumation of each environmental health policies in each facility combined has a large impact preventing hazards of health to the population, and additionally protecting earths natural environment. 

(American Nurses Association, 2021)

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