Victoria nurses lead greener approach to kidney care at Royal Jubilee<\/p>\n
Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, May 13, 2026<\/p>\n
A nurse-led initiative at Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH) is helping make kidney care more environmentally sustainable by reducing waste, improving recycling and changing medication disposal practices.<\/p>\n
The Going Green in the RJH Hemodialysis Unit initiative, led by registered nurse Gertie Michaelis-Martin, is being recognized during Nursing Week for its efforts to reduce the environmental impact of kidney care at the Victoria hospital.<\/p>\n
Michaelis-Martin has worked in the hospital\u2019s Renal Unit for about 25 years and said health care, including hemodialysis treatment, relies heavily on resources such as water, energy and single-use plastics<\/p>\n
According to Island Health, the RJH Renal Unit uses approximately five million litres of water annually for hemodialysis procedures, roughly equivalent to two Olympic-sized swimming pools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s particularly compelling is that this work has been deeply embedded in day-to-day nursing practice,\u201d said Puru Shah, a member of Island Health\u2019s Innovation team. \u201cThese are nurse-initiated, nurse-championed, nurse-led activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michaelis-Martin said her interest in sustainable health care grew after attending presentations on environmentally responsible kidney care, including Island Health\u2019s Climate change and Planetary Health Conference in Nanaimo in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a game-changer, because it made me realize that so much was going on here that I was just not aware of,\u201d she said. \u201cI thought, \u2018Oh my gosh, I want to be a part of this change. This is just too important.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the initiative\u2019s largest changes involves the disposal of heparin, a medication commonly used during hemodialysis treatments. Previously leftover medication risked ending up in landfills. Since September 2025, used vials containing leftover heparin have been diverted into pharmaceutical waste containers for incineration.<\/p>\n
By April 2026, staff had filled 27 pharmaceutical waste pails containing nearly 350 kilograms of unused heparin, helping reduce the risk of groundwater contamination.<\/p>\n
The Renal Unit has also reduced unnecessary medical supply waste. Previously, supply bags were prepared well before patients arrived for treatment, often leading to unused supplies being discarded because of infection control rules.<\/p>\n
Now, supplies are assembled shortly before appointments using a more customized process. Since the change was introduced in January, the amount of unused supplies marked for disposal had dropped by 30 per cent by March, according to Island Health.<\/p>\n
Another significant change came through the adoption of reusable gowns.<\/p>\n
Before joining Island Health\u2019s reusable gowns program in 2024, the Renal Unit used more than 30,000 disposable plastic gowns annually. In 2025, after switching to reusable gowns, the unit ordered only 800 disposable gowns and has not needed to restock since.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge win,\u201d Michaelis-Martin said. \u201cStaff almost exclusively wear reusable gowns now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additional sustainability measures include recycling personal protective equipment, reducing paper use and improving waste sorting procedures throughout the unit.<\/p>\n
Dr. Caroline Stigant, a nephrologist with Island Health, described Michaelis-Martin as a strong sustainability leader within the hemodialysis unit.<\/p>\n
\u201cGertie brings kindness and generosity to her sustainability work,\u201d Stigant said. \u201cShe works hard and leads with purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
The initiative received funding support from BC Renal, which praised the project for integrating environmental stewardship into daily patient care.<\/p>\n
During National Nursing Week, Michaelis-Martin said she hopes more health-care workers recognize the impact of small environmental changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think small changes can make a big difference,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce you see things through a green lens, there\u2019s no turning back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victoria nurses lead greener approach to kidney care at Royal Jubilee Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, May 13, 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-669179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}