Name of Interviewee: Ashley Politi, MSN, RN, CCRN
Organization: El Camino Health, Mountain View and Los Gatos, California
Interviewee Background
Ashley Politi is a registered nurse with a Master of Science in Nursing and Critical Care Certification (CCRN), serving as a staff nurse in the critical care department at El Camino Health, a Magnet-designated hospital system with campuses in Mountain View and Los Gatos, California. Recognizing the unique position of nurses in driving institutional change, Ashley leveraged the hospital’s Magnet culture—which prioritizes nurse-led innovation—to establish the hospital’s first sustainability program. Her leadership exemplifies how frontline clinicians can champion environmental stewardship in healthcare settings.
Initiative Overview
The Sustainability Council, conceived and led by Ashley, was created to address the absence of a formal sustainability program at El Camino Health. Spanning both campuses and encompassing inpatient and outpatient departments, the council operates under a shared governance model that empowers nurses to contribute to hospital-wide decision-making. By embedding sustainability into the organizational framework, Ashley’s initiative ensures that environmental considerations are integrated into daily operations, from waste management to supply chain practices.
Collaborators and Key Partnerships
Ashley attributes much of the council’s success to strategic collaborations. The Chief Nursing Officer played a pivotal role by providing high-level support and advocacy, while the Magnet Program Director helped align the initiative with the hospital’s broader goals. A formal mentorship program further guided Ashley in navigating institutional processes. Today, the council includes a diverse, multidisciplinary team: representation from environmental services, nutrition services, supply chain, infection prevention, IT, and communications, alongside 18 staff nurses representing units such as the ER and oncology. This cross-departmental representation ensures that sustainability efforts are both comprehensive and tailored to the needs of individual units.
Engagement and Approval Process
Launching the Sustainability Council required careful planning and stakeholder buy-in. Ashley began by presenting her vision to the Chief Nursing Officer and Magnet Program Director, framing the initiative as an extension of the hospital’s commitment to nurse-led innovation. The shared governance model, which formalizes nurses’ roles in organizational decision-making, proved instrumental in securing approval. By inviting nurses from across the hospital to participate, Ashley cultivated a sense of ownership and collective purpose, laying the groundwork for the council’s success.
Challenges and Obstacles
Like many grassroots initiatives, the Sustainability Council faced significant challenges, particularly around time constraints. Ashley and her team balanced the project alongside demanding clinical workloads and personal responsibilities, requiring creative solutions to maintain momentum. Another hurdle was scalability: while unit-specific sustainability projects continue to sprout up across campuses, identifying hospital-wide solutions required deeper collaboration and resource allocation. Despite these obstacles, Ashley’s proactive approach—such as delegating tasks and securing leadership support—keeps the initiative moving forward.
Results and Impact
Since its inception, the Sustainability Council has achieved measurable progress. Recycling programs have expanded, with critical care units now able to recycle cardboard, while reprocessing initiatives for medical devices have reduced waste through improved staff education. The council also introduced biodegradable alternatives for high-volume items, such as paper medicine cups and patient belonging bags, replacing 80,000 single-use plastic bags annually. Perhaps most impactful are the unit-level “green teams,” which address department-specific challenges. For example, Labor and Delivery nurses collaborated with supply chain staff to switch from disposable to reusable ice packs.
To continue raising awareness, the council now hosts annual Sustainability Fairs on both campuses which feature vendors and various green teams for staff, patients, and community members to learn about the sustainability work that El Camino Health is doing. These efforts have not only reduced the hospital’s environmental footprint but also fostered a culture of sustainability among staff.
Advice for Nurses Starting Similar Initiatives
For nurses eager to launch sustainability projects, Ashley emphasizes the importance of leveraging existing resources. In her case, she utilized identifying institutional structures, such as shared governance models, to gain traction. She also advocates pursuing and securing any amount of protected time to focus on your initiative. Having even 4 hours of dedicated time a week to work on your project could be more valuable than one might think.
Collaboration, she notes, is key—engaging colleagues from diverse departments can amplify impact and distribute the workload. Ashley also highlights the value of external tools, such as Practice Greenhealth’s Guide for Creating Effective Green Teams in Health Care, and evidence-based resources like the American Nurse Journal article “Climate Change Interventions,” which she used to persuade leadership of the project’s importance. Her overarching message? Start small, build alliances, and use data to make the case for change.
Conclusion
El Camino Health’s Sustainability Council demonstrates the transformative power of nurse-led initiatives. By combining strategic partnerships, practical problem-solving, and unwavering persistence, she turned a vision into a hospital-wide movement. Her story offers a blueprint for nurses seeking to advance sustainability in their own institutions, proving that even in the face of challenges, meaningful change is possible.
