The negative effects of climate change are increasingly being experienced throughout healthcare, with impacts on individual patients, clinicians, organizational operations, and public health as a whole. A symposium of articles published in AACN Advanced Critical Care examined the various ways climate change has affected acute and critical care. It also highlights the steps individuals and organizations can take to create sustainable changes in healthcare settings.
Mary Frances Pate, PhD, RN, and Margaret “Peggy” Slota, DNP, RN, CNS, FAAN, served as co-editors for the symposium, titled “Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability in Acute and Critical Care.” Dr Pate is a clinical associate professor, at St. David’s School of Nursing at Texas State University, Round Rock, and Dr Slota is professor emerita in the School of Nursing at Georgetown University, Washington, DC., where she is also a Georgetown University Medical Center Distinguished Educator. Both have long been active in environmental issues that have impacted public and individual health.
“We are in a defining moment for climate change, and we must prepare to manage the inevitable impacts on human health,” said Dr Pate, who wrote “Climate Change: Time for Hospitals to Respond” for this issue. “Health care organizations need to understand how they contribute to the problem and take action to reduce the effects on their communities, patients, and employees.”…