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Sustainable Nursing

A Practical Guide for Nurses and Midwives to Lead in Protecting the Planet

  • 1st Edition - October 28, 2026
  • Latest edition
  • Editors: Lucy Brown, Charlotte McArdle
  • Language: English

Today’s nurses and midwives are nearly 30 million strong across the globe, and are in a unique position of influence to limit the impact of climate change and positively affec… Read more

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Description

Today’s nurses and midwives are nearly 30 million strong across the globe, and are in a unique position of influence to limit the impact of climate change and positively affect the future of our planet. Sustainable Nursing is a first-of-its-kind, expertly written text that equips nurses and midwives to understand the public health impact of climate change and provides the tools needed to actively lead change across health systems. It offers a robust call to action as part of core reading material for both students and healthcare professionals who need a focused, authoritative resource on sustainability.

Key features

  • Discusses the why, what, and how of sustainability, climate change and planetary health—from the evidence-rich rationale through practical frameworks for action
  • Addresses key topics such as planetary health, health equity and climate justice, net zero healthcare, climate literacy for clinicians, nature-based health interventions, biodiversity and health, prevention and population health, triple bottom line decision making, and more
  • Provides detailed, shareable data for frontline professionals regarding the health impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution
  • Describes nursing and midwifery’s longstanding environmental and public health roots.
  • Offers practical, actionable steps for sustainable clinical practice, lower-carbon care delivery, green and social prescribing, and much more
  • Explores implementation through Sustainability in Quality Improvement (SusQI), providing case studies and replicable examples
  • Provides a global perspective with case studies from both high-income and low- and middle-income settings; links to Lancet Countdown insights; and comparative approaches to resilience, adaptation, and mitigation
  • Covers research design, policy development, and nurses and midwives as strategic influencers, as well as leadership, movement building, and collective action
  • Meets the needs of nursing and midwifery programs and curricula that feature sustainability as a core element

Readership

Nurses and midwives at all levels focused particularly working directly with patients and leaders who can have influence policy across the globe. Academic nurse and midwifery leaders

Table of contents

Chapter 1 Positioning Nurses and Midwives to Lead Sustainable Change in Health and Social Care
Chapter 2 Looking Back at the History of Sustainability in Nursing and Midwifery
Chapter 3 What Is Sustainable Healthcare and How Can It Be Applied in Practice?
Chapter 4 Sustainable Quality Improvement
Chapter 5 Lessons From the Globe
Chapter 6 Leading Change: Why and How Nurses and Midwives Should Lead the Way
Chapter 7 Research, Policy and Influence: Tools to Drive Transformational Change for Sustainability
Chapter 8 A Call to Action: Conclusion
Index

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: February 1, 2027
  • Language: English

About the editors

Lucy Brown

Editor
Affiliations and expertise
Development Director, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Oxford, United Kingdom Head of Sustainability, Circle Health Group Honorary Fellow, Health Sciences University London, United Kingdom

Charlotte McArdle

Editor
Affiliations and expertise
Visiting Prof, Ulster University Global Nurse Consultant PhD Candidate Vice Dean FFNMRCSI, Vice Chair RCN Foundation Belfast, United Kingdom