International Journal of Healthcare Simulation

Background and aim:

Simulation and clinical skills teaching are core elements of University programmes to underpin authentic practice learning for healthcare professionals. It is estimated that 1 bag of (non-infected) ‘clinical waste’ is produced per student group at each skills session for students in one year for the adult nursing programme at one University (504 bags) and increases when other programmes are included in the calculation. As the health sector is one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide equivalents to the atmosphere [1], embedding environmental sustainability into professional healthcare education works towards the NHS England target of a NetZero health service by 2040 [2].

Waste from teaching sessions includes plastic gloves, aprons, dressing packs, syringes, solution vials and associated outer packaging etc., depending on the skills simulated. Most of this is not clinically infected although it is discarded in this way. Methods for the identification of interventions to reduce waste and procure services to enable recycling and reuse of waste elements are needed to raise awareness of the problem and potential solutions, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of clinical education. The aim of the presentation is to report a collaboration between Universities to increase sustainable practice in skills education through sharing experiences of teaching practice, whilst maintaining the authenticity of educational practice.

Activity:

Project methods include audits of the quantity and nature of clinical waste from taught sessions to identify waste reduction targets and explore alternative climate-friendly solutions; use of a Climate café to enhance collaboration with relevant stakeholder groups to raise awareness and action; and carbon foot printing analysis to identify points of action and measure change, drawing from the Sustainable quality improvement framework [3].

Findings:

Clinical waste audit findings will be described highlighting the carbon footprint impact and where sustainable improvements could be made. Key items that could be recycled, reused or managed through different disposal pathways will be identified with lessons for teaching and learning. Climate café qualitative data provide the perspectives of clinical skills teachers and simulation facilitators as well as student representatives. Potential cost savings will be estimated.

Conclusion:

Environmental sustainability is an emergency that needs prompt attention. The identification of the nature and amount of clinical waste from simulated education aids the strategic application of solutions to reduce, reuse and recycle key resources whilst maintaining the authenticity of clinical learning for students.

Ethics statement:

Authors confirm that all relevant ethical standards for research conduct and dissemination have been met. The submitting author confirms that relevant ethical approval was granted, if applicable.