180596 Environmental health nursing assessment tools for health care settings

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 11:06 AM

Barbara Sattler, RN, DrPH, FAAN , Environmental Health Education Center, University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD
The Institute of Medicine recommends that environmental health be integrated into nursing practice. In a recent national nursing survey, nurses reported a number of common potentially toxic chemical risks during their normal work hours. This presentation will describe assessment tools for identifying environmental health risks in the health care setting which will include the identification of risks that can affect patients, health care workers, and the community at large. The tools have been created by several individuals and organizations, including Health Care Without Harm and Hospitals for a Healthy Environment. Risks associated with mercury, phthalates, polyvinyl chloride products, fragrances, sterilants/disinfectants, cleaning products, asthmagenic products, pesticides, and other common products in hospitals will be discussed. Issues associated with operations such as waste management and recycling will be discussed. In addition to the assessment tools, resources for environmentally-preferable purchasing, choosing alternative products, promoting sustainable hospital foods, and healthy and safe operations will be described. Many hospitals are developing “Green Teams” or the equivalent which are helping to assess and address environmental health risks. A brief discussion about green teams will be included.

Learning Objectives:
1)Describe common health care products that can create health risks. 2)Identify 3 health care products that are known asthmagens or known to trigger asthma events 3)List governmental and non-governmental organizations that can provide technical assistance for addressing environmental health risks in health care.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Director of the Environmental Health Education Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, Co-Chair of the Nurses' Workgroup for Health Care Without Harm, PI for the MD H2E project
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.