THE ENVIRONMENT AS A HEALING TOOL

Abstract

A proactive nurse healer looks at his or her environment, performs an assessment, and looks for ways to make his or her own personal and community space better. Once conscious of the difference that improving personal space makes, nurses can move ahead to help others in work settings and communities find ways to heal their environment. Opportunities for action at the regional and national level abound for those who can move forward at those levels.

Nurses may elect to take an environmental activist role in an interdisciplinary effort to plan and implement noise abatement interventions and other hospital-based concerns.²⁰ There are numerous research roles and studies that nurses can participate in; they also can become involved in committees and activities that further the cleaning and harmonizing of the health care environment.