Healthcare leaders are being called upon to do more than deliver high-quality care. They must navigate rising costs, resource constraints, workforce demands, environmental challenges and the growing health impacts of climate change, while strengthening the health and resilience of the communities they serve.

Sustainability provides a powerful framework for addressing these challenges together. When healthcare organizations examine how resources are used, how care is delivered and how decisions affect people and the environment, they can identify opportunities to reduce emissions and waste, lower costs, improve efficiency, strengthen resilience and advance community health. Strategies that improve environmental performance can also support healthcare priorities for quality, safety and value.

Nurses are uniquely positioned to lead this work. They understand patient care, clinical workflows, organizational culture and community needs. This course provides leadership tools and a framework to help nurses translate that perspective into action, whether redesigning processes, reducing waste, improving resource use, strengthening climate resilience or advancing organizational strategy.

The opportunity extends beyond reducing environmental impact. It is about using sustainability to build healthcare systems that are more efficient, resilient and prepared for the future, while developing nurses as effective leaders in healthcare improvement.

Practicing nurses seeking to strengthen their leadership skills and lead organizational change initiatives within healthcare settings.

Aspiring nurse managers, directors, clinical leaders, quality improvement leaders and emerging executives.h

Also well suited for hospitals and health systems seeking professional development opportunities for current and future nurse leaders.

Course participants will gain tangible benefits, including leadership development, systems thinking, experience leading organizational change, application to a real-world project, executive coaching, CEUs and more.

This course includes personalized executive coaching from Erika Kimball and Rachel Gibson, providing participants with direct access to experienced healthcare sustainability leaders for guidance on applying course concepts within their own organizations.

At the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Analyze the interconnections between environmental sustainability, human health, and the nursing profession’s role in addressing sustainability and health equity.
• Evaluate healthcare practices and systems through a sustainability lens to identify opportunities for reducing environmental impact and promoting health outcomes.
• Design a real or theoretical sustainability improvement project in your workplace or area of practice using systems thinking and the Sustainability Initiative Framework. 

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Completion Requirements:

All course components and modules must be completed within one year of enrollment. •Learners are required to complete Modules 1 and 2, including submission of the Pre-coaching Reflection and participation in the first executive coaching session, within the first 90 days of enrollment.

Fee: $2495.00

•The course fee includes two executive coaching sessions: Session 1 (20 minutes) and Session 2 (40 minutes).

Format: Online, flexible, designed for busy working professionals

•Applied learning with real-world implementation

Kimball Sustainable Healthcare (KSH) is a nurse-founded healthcare sustainability consulting firm that helps healthcare organizations turn sustainability into operational reality. With interdisciplinary expertise spanning clinical practice, operations, engineering, policy and public health, KSH partners with healthcare leaders to align sustainability with organizational priorities and implement practical solutions that improve quality, resilience, value and long-term organizational performance.

KSH has collaborated with nurses for over a decade to improve healthcare while empowering nurses as sustainability leaders. Nurse collaborators have conducted baseline sustainability assessments, prevented clinical waste, eliminated harmful chemicals from clinical products, eliminated plastics in food service and improved the use of alternative transportation in staff commutes.

Through Nurse Leadership in Sustainability, participants learn directly from professionals who have led healthcare sustainability initiatives across health systems, bringing real-world implementation experience and measurable organizational results into the learning environment.

Erika Kimball
CEO & Founder, Kimball Sustainable Healthcare

Founder and CEO Erika Kimball is a sustainability leader with more than 15 years of experience developing solutions with healthcare clients. She began her sustainability journey as a staff nurse leading volunteer waste reduction projects in clinical units. A positive and determined change agent with expertise in sustainability strategy, implementation, and change management, Erika develops collaborative solutions that improve environmental outcomes while supporting hospital quality, safety, and value. Erika is a leader in healthcare waste reduction and sustainable clinical practices. She has developed best practices for clinical recycling, created industry leading zero waste programs, and co-developed a sustainability fellowship in nursing. Erika loves learning and adventure and holds an MBA from Presidio Graduate School.

Rachel Gibson
Principal Consultant, Kimball Sustainable Healthcare

Rachel Gibson is a Principal Consultant at Kimball Sustainable Healthcare and a sustainability leader with extensive experience advancing safer chemicals, climate leadership, sustainable procurement, and healthcare policy. For more than a decade, she directed the Safer Chemicals Program at Health Care Without Harm, helping develop environmental standards, support healthcare institutions in transitioning to safer products, and advance policy initiatives that improve environmental and human health. Rachel holds a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University and a law degree from UC Berkeley.