Thursday, March 31, 2022
In the Interdisciplinary Thesis Lab 'Sustainable Hospitals' of Medical Delta and LDE, eleven master's students are working on their thesis on greening hospitals. In a blog series, they talk about their experiences and progress. Read here the blog of Elaine van Ee, master student Health Care Management at the Erasmus University.
Hi everyone! My name is Elaine van Ee, and next to my MSc of Medicine at Leiden University, I am currently following the MSc Health Care Management (HCM) at Erasmus University Rotterdam. For the last two years, I have been working at the emergency department of Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), where I assist at the work floor during traumas, replenish cupboards, and clean rooms. During my proceedings I have encountered lots of waste productions, which are, from my point of view, sometimes unnecessary. For the future, I believe a change should be made in how environmental sustainability is currently existing in hospitals. Many initiatives have been taken already, for instance, the Sustainable Hospitals Lab, GroenER, GreenTeams, and many more which I would like to continue and expand on. Therefore, I decided to dedicate my master thesis for HCM on environmental sustainability.
During my proceedings I have encountered lots of waste productions, which are, from my point of view, sometimes unnecessary. For the future, I believe a change should be made in how environmental sustainability is currently existing in hospitals.
The research question I want to elaborate on is how the emergency department can become more environmentally sustainable. During my qualitative research, I will act as an action researcher at the emergency department, while also photo-journaling. For instance, I took photos of waste after a trauma shelter at the emergency room. The amount of waste produced is, according to myself, quite shocking. For my research, I will also elaborate on the following sub-questions: what is the current state of awareness of environmental sustainability in the emergency department is, who is involved in raising awareness about environmental sustainability in the emergency department, what environmentally sustainable actions have already been taken in the LUMC, and how can reflexive spaces contribute to improving environmental sustainability in the emergency department? Participation in the Sustainable Hospitals Lab is an interesting manner to discuss this topic with fellow students who are interested in sustainability in hospitals, to follow seminars about this topic, and to meet people and visit places where sustainability is a ‘hot topic’. All these activities will help me in writing my master thesis. Therefore, I am very grateful that I received the possibility to join this interesting Sustainable Hospitals Lab, and I am looking forward to all other upcoming sessions!
