Best Environmental Practices for Hospital Support Staff

Over the past few years, there have been huge efforts across all industries to preserve what’s left of our planet’s dwindling resources. Environmental initiatives to increase energy efficiency and reduce harmful emissions are no longer just aimed at processing plants. Today, these initiatives are on the agenda of many businesses. Contractors, tech companies and carmakers are going green, and now, so are hospitals.It’s well-known that hospitals consume high amounts of energy. However, there are some major changes taking place in Canadian hospitals that will have positive impacts in the very near future. One hospital in Ontario, for example, is using units that generate both heat and electricity at the same time. Soon, the hospital will produce energy completely independently, and will produce 20,000 fewer tons of greenhouse gases, saving $2 million a year in energy costs.With the industry making big moves in a greener direction, what are some practices that hospital support staff as individuals can do to contribute? Read on to find out a few small practices that can make a big difference!

Environmental Administrative Practices for Hospital Support Staff

Earning a hospital support specialist degree prepares you for a career where you’ll be working in hospitals, clinics or doctor’s offices and handling important information such as patient’s medical records, registration forms, and diagnostic images. Some positions will even have you maintaining the inventory of office and medical supplies.

With this administrative work, there are several environmentally conscious decisions you can make that will have an impact, such as:

• ordering and using office supplies made from recycled materials such as paper and pens
• using refillable ink cartridges for printers and fax machines
• ensuring that all computers or laptops in the area are energy star compliant
• ordering medical supplies from companies that use recycled materials

Once you start working in a more environmentally friendly manner, you may even notice that it has a positive influence on your coworkers!

Communicating With Hospital Support Staff about Eco-Friendly Practices

After completing your hospital support specialist training, you will be entering a career where you’ll be an integral part of a health care team.

Whatever the health care setting, you will have plenty of opportunity to communicate with your coworkers about some basic eco friendly-practices, whether it be during staff meetings or just in day-to-day conversation. In a hospital support specialist career, you will be interacting with all different types of hospital staff including administrators, doctors, and nurses, so you’ll be surprised to see how far your influence can reach!

Some basic practices include:

• reducing general lighting during the daytime, making sure to turn lights off when leaving a room
• making use of recycling bins and properly disposing medical waste materials
• shutting off air conditioning units when not needed
• using eco-friendly cleaning products and disinfectants on desks and common work areas

Some of these things may seem small, but just imagine the effect each small effort can have when more and more people start using environmentally friendly practices!

Today, some hospitals are even educating patients on what they can do to reduce water and energy consumption during their stay. Contributing to a greener hospital setting is about adopting the right attitude, doing our part as individuals and communicating with others about ways they can help too.

Can you think of any other good environmental practices for hospital support staff?