CREATING A GREEN TEAM IN THE ICU

1. Define the Team's Purpose: Establish the goals and objectives of the ICU Green Team. This includes reducing waste, conserving resources, promoting sustainable practices, and raising awareness among ICU staff.

2. Recruit Team Members: Seek volunteers who are passionate about sustainability and willing to dedicate time and effort to the cause. Ideally, the team should include individuals from various roles within the ICU, such as doctors, nurses, administrators, and support staff.

3. Establish Leadership: Designate a team leader or co-leaders who will facilitate meetings, coordinate initiatives, and serve as a point of contact for the team.

4. Conduct a Baseline Assessment: Assess the ICU's current practices, resource usage, and waste generation. This will help identify areas for improvement and set measurable targets.

5. Develop an Action Plan: Based on the assessment, create a detailed action plan with specific initiatives and timelines. Consider strategies such as reducing energy consumption, implementing recycling programs, minimizing water usage, and promoting environmentally friendly purchasing practices.

6. Education and Awareness: Organize educational sessions and workshops to raise awareness among ICU staff about the importance of sustainability and the role they can play. Share information on best practices, sustainable behaviors, and the impact of their actions.

7. Implementation and Monitoring: Begin implementing the initiatives outlined in the action plan. Monitor progress regularly, track data, and communicate results to the team and ICU staff. Celebrate milestones and successes along the way.

8. Collaboration: Seek partnerships with environmental organizations, sustainability experts, and other hospital departments to collaborate on larger-scale initiatives and share resources and knowledge.

9. Continuous Improvement: Regularly review and evaluate the team's progress, making adjustments as necessary. Encourage feedback from ICU staff and consider suggestions for new initiatives or improvements.

10. Communication and Recognition: Share updates and success stories with the broader ICU staff, hospital administration, and the community. Recognize and appreciate the efforts of individual team members and the collective achievements of the ICU Green Team.

(Bein & McGain, 2022)

An ICU nurse is crucial in promoting sustainability within their healthcare setting. While sustainability efforts are often associated with environmental conservation, they also encompass broader aspects of healthcare, including resource management, waste reduction, and patient education. To preface this, a study performed in Brazilian hospitals provided simple interventions to help improve sustainability when providing nursing care. Interventions that included: installing water flow regulating devices on all the faucets in the rooms; placing identification labels on the medications when sealing the packaging, and not on the plastic bags; delivering materials and single dose medications dispensed by the pharmacy without plastic bags; standardizing smaller dosages of hormonal anti-inflammatory drugs to avoid waste and disposal of these medications; reviewing the institutional waste classification; purchasing and installing containers for non-recyclable waste in the rooms; adjusting and installing chemical waste containers in the rooms in accordance with Brazilian law; and training and raising awareness of the team. By just adding these Interventions to the healthcare environment, Furukawa et al. (2016) found a "reduction of materials such as plastic bags (37.1%), reduction of hormonal anti-inflammatory drugs (67.1%), increased removal of labels from plastic bags to be recycled (146.9%) and proper waste disposal (32.2%), with a statistically significant difference." Thus, by performing simple Interventions, nurses can create substantial differences in the environment. 

Piggybacking on the findings of Bein and McGain (2022), and Furukawa et al. (2016), here are some ways in which an ICU nurse can contribute to sustainability:

1. Resource Management: ICU nurses can actively participate in resource management practices to reduce waste and conserve resources. This may involve ensuring efficient use of medical supplies, such as optimizing the use of gloves, gowns, and other disposable items. As stated in Bein and McGain (2022), "Quantification of ICU waste has not been systematically investigated, though approximately 50% could be recyclable. Always be cognizant though of the waste management ‘mantra’: ‘Reduce waste first, reuse if possible, and then recycle" Nurses can help minimize unnecessary waste generation by being mindful of resource consumption.

2. Energy Efficiency: ICU units consume significant amounts of energy due to the continuous operation of equipment and monitoring devices. Nurses can contribute to energy conservation efforts by switching off lights and equipment when not in use, ensuring proper ventilation and temperature control to minimize energy usage, and advocating for using energy-efficient equipment and lighting.

3. Waste Management: Proper waste management is essential for sustainability in healthcare. ICU nurses can follow guidelines for proper waste segregation, recycling whenever possible, and using appropriate disposal methods for hazardous materials. They can also promote initiatives such as recycling programs and reducing single-use plastics within the healthcare facility.

4. Patient Education: ICU nurses have direct contact with patients and their families, making them ideal educators on sustainability-related topics. They can educate patients about the importance of conservation, waste reduction, and responsible use of resources. Nurses can also discuss the benefits of adopting sustainable practices in daily life and encourage patients to take these principles home with them after discharge.

5. Collaboration and Advocacy: ICU nurses can collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, environmental committees, or sustainability task forces within their healthcare facility to promote sustainability initiatives. They can actively participate in discussions and share ideas for reducing the ecological footprint of the ICU unit. Additionally, nurses can advocate for implementing sustainable practices and policies at both the unit and institutional levels.

6. Continuous Learning: To stay updated on sustainable healthcare practices, ICU nurses can continuously learn. They can attend workshops, conferences, and training programs focused on sustainability in healthcare. By staying informed about the latest trends and best practices, nurses can bring new ideas and strategies to their work and promote a culture of sustainability.