Nursing and midwifery students celebrate sustainability prize

The awards were given by the University's Sustainability Health and Wellbeing Interest Group (SHWIG)
Sustainability health and wellbeing interest group awards
Nursing and midwifery students at the University of Plymouth have shared their innovative sustainability ideas at a special awards ceremony. 
Run by the University’s Sustainability, Health and Wellbeing Interest Group (SHWIG), the Sustainability Prize was open to all students in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, with entrants tasked with writing about sustainability ideas in just 500 words.   
Designed to get students thinking about how to embed greener ideas in healthcare, the entries ranged from ideas on recycling clinical equipment within teaching settings, to taking inspiration from the natural elements.
The winner of the prize was Jade Hunt, who wrote about her own sustainability journey in healthcare, and the ‘passion ignited to improve planetary health’. She received her prize at the celebration event in the University’s Sustainability Hub.
The awards build on the School’s existing culture of sustainability, with the award-winning education tool, NurSus, having been co-created at Plymouth.
Jade Hunt and Aled Jones sustainability prize
Jade Hunt receiving her prize from Professor Aled Jones  
The SHWIG, which welcomes staff and students from across the University as well as alumni, hosts guest speakers from across disciplines to share ideas and innovations on sustainability in healthcare.  
This year, the University as a whole became only the second in the UK to be accredited carbon neutral, and won a UK and Ireland Green Gown award for reporting with influence.

The Sustainability Prize has run for a number of years, but this is the first time we’ve held a celebration event. This is also the first year we’ve opened the competition to all stages in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, as previously it was only open to third years. I’m delighted we did this as we were really inspired by the entries we received.

As Plymouth is only the second carbon neutral university in the UK, we’re naturally very keen to explore and promote new ideas to improve planetary health. Exploring how we can do this in healthcare is an important priority, and it’s great to see our students so passionate about coming on this journey with us.

Jennie AronssonJennie Aronsson
Lecturer in Adult Nursing and co-lead of the SHWIG

Sustainability isn’t just something for large organisations to consider, it’s something that we all need to embed into our everyday practices.

There’s no boundary between personal and professional when it comes to the responsibility we have, so it’s really inspirational to see our students come up with such varied, creative and impactful ideas. 

Aled JonesAled Jones
Head of School of Nursing and Midwifery

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A young male nurse stands in a busy hospital ward. Image courtesy of Getty Images.
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