Promoting sustainability in nursing and midwifery clinical laboratories: Strategies for resource reduction, reuse, and recycling

The impacts of climate change on planetary health are multifaceted and threaten public health gains made since World War II. Healthcare is the fifth largest global emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, demanding significant efforts to transition to an environmentally sustainable future. Addressing these issues will require collective societal action. In this regard, universities have a dual responsibility – (1) to tackle complex social, economic, and environmental challenges by championing sustainability initiatives designed to positively impact planetary health; and (2) to ensure that graduates are equipped with the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to steward planetary health towards a more sustainable future. The future nursing and midwifery workforce must be educated to mitigate the health sector's impact on the environment, advocate for action on climate change, prepare for ongoing health impacts of unpredictable climate and environmental changes, and help communities and healthcare systems become more climate resilient. To help increase nursing and midwifery educators' and students' capacity to support planetary-health related interventions, the overarching purpose of this paper is to provide a series of exemplars that illustrate sustainability initiatives used in four university-based clinical skills laboratories. These initiatives each demonstrate a commitment to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals and can be used to help embed the importance of planetary health in student learning.