Gizem Nur Katı,Hilal Türkben Polat,Asude Güney

  • Gizem Nur Katı: Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi Seydişehir Kamil Akkanat Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi
  • Hilal Türkben Polat: NECMETTİN ERBAKAN ÜNİVERSİTESİ
  •  Year : 2025
  •  Vol : 3
  •  Issue : 1
  •  Page : 54-64
This study aimed to determine nursing students' attitudes towards sustainability in nursing and the related factors. Conducted as a descriptive study, data were collected online between November 23-30, 2024. The study population consisted of 204 nursing students enrolled in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years of a university during the Fall semester of the 2024-2025 academic year. The sample size was calculated as 134 students with a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error. Data were collected using the “Descriptive Information Form” and the “Sustainability in Nursing Attitudes Questionnaire (SNAQ).” Data analysis was performed using SPSS 25. Normal distribution was determined based on Skewness and Kurtosis values, with values between +1 and -1 considered normally distributed. Descriptive data were summarized with numbers, percentages, means, standard deviations, medians, maximum, and minimum values. An independent t-test was used for comparisons between two groups, and ANOVA was applied for comparisons among more than two groups. Among participants, 81.3% were female, and 35.8% were 4th-year students. Half of the participants (50%) reported being aware of the sustainable development goals, 83.6% had not received training on sustainability, 84.3% believed training on sustainability was necessary, and 94% stated that sustainability contributes to the nursing profession. Students who were aware of the sustainable development goals, had received sustainability training, or believed in its contribution to nursing scored significantly higher on the SNAQ (p<0.005).In conclusion, nursing students' attitudes towards sustainability were above average. A significant relationship was found between sustainability attitudes and being aware of sustainable development goals, receiving training, and perceiving sustainability as beneficial to nursing. It is recommended to incorporate sustainability-related courses and practices into nursing curricula and organize activities to raise awareness of environmental sustainability.
Cite this Article As : Katı, G.N. & Polat, H.T. & Güney, A. (2025). Determination of nursing students' attitudes towards sustainability in nursing and related factors. Sustainable Welfare, 3(1), 54-64.

Conflict of interest : The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

This article is published under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
Sustainable Welfare
2025, Vol3, Issue1
ISSN: 3023-6673
Received : , Accepted : , Published Online :

References

  1. Aleixo, A. M., Leal, S., & Azeiteiro, U. M. (2021). Higher education students' perceptions of sustainable development in Portugal. Journal of Cleaner Production, 327, 129429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129429
  2. Álvarez-Nieto, C., Álvarez-García, C., Parra-Anguita, L., Sanz-Martos, S., & López-Medina, I. M. (2022). Effectiveness of scenario-based learning and augmented reality for nursing students' attitudes and awareness toward climate change and sustainability. BMC Nursing, 21(1), 245. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-01023-9
  3. Álvarez-Nieto, C., Richardson, J., Navarro-Perán, M. Á., Tutticci, N., Huss, N., Elf, M., Anåker, A., Aronsson, J., Baid, H., & López-Medina, I. M. (2022b). Nursing students' attitudes towards climate change and sustainability: A cross-sectional multisite study. Nurse Education Today, 108, 105185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2021.105185
  4. Anåker, A., Spante, M., & Elf, M. (2021). Nursing students' perception of climate change and sustainability actions - A mismatched discourse: A qualitative, descriptive exploratory study. Nurse education today, 105, 105028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2021.105028
  5. Aronsson, J., Anåker, A., Elf, M., & Richardson, J. (2022). Sustainability in Clinical Practice: A Cross-National Comparative Study of Nursing Students in England and Sweden. The Journal of nursing education, 61(7), 390–393. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20220613-02
  6. Berryman, T., & Sauvé, L. (2016). Ruling relationships in sustainable development and education for sustainable development. The Journal of Environmental Education, 47(2), 104–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2015.1092934
  7. Brand, G., Collins, J., Bedi, G., Bonnamy, J., Barbour, L., Ilangakoon, C., Wotherspoon, R., Simmons, M., Kim, M., & Schwerdtle, P. N. (2021). "I teach it because it is the biggest threat to health": Integrating sustainable healthcare into health professions education. Medical Teacher, 43(3), 325–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2020.1844876
  8. Brundtland,G.H.(1987).Our common future: The world commission on environment and development. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf
  9. Chen, M. J., & Price, A. M. (2020). Comparing undergraduate student nurses' understanding of sustainability in two countries: A mixed method study. Nurse Education Today, 88, 104363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104363
  10. Edwards, R. L., Markaki, A., Shirey, M. R., & Patrician, P. A. (2020). A model operationalizing sustainability in global nursing. Nursing Outlook, 68(3), 345–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2020.01.006
  11. Equador (2019). The strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) statement: Guidelines for reporting observational studies. https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe/
  12. Gallagher, R., & Dix, A. (2020). Sustainability 1: can nurses reduce the environmental impact of healthcare. Nursing Times, 116(9), 29-31.
  13. İlaslan, N., & Orak, N. Ş. (2023). Sustainability attitudes in nursing survey: A cross-cultural adaptation and validation study. Journal of Human Sciences, 20(3), 212-222. https://doi.org/10.14687/jhs.v20i3.6352
  14. İlaslan, N., & Şahin Orak, N. (2024). Relationship between nursing students' global climate change awareness, climate change anxiety and sustainability attitudes in nursing: a descriptive and cross-sectional study. BMC Nursing, 23(1), 573. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02252-w
  15. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2022) Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-ii/
  16. International Council of Nursing (ICN) (2021) The ICN Code of Ethıcs For Nurses. Available at: https://www.icn.ch/system/files/2021-10/ICN_Code-of-Ethics_EN_Web_0.pdf
  17. López-Medina, I. M., Álvarez-García, C., Parra-Anguita, L., Sanz-Martos, S., & Álvarez-Nieto, C. (2022). Perceptions and concerns about sustainable healthcare of nursing students trained in sustainability and health: A cohort study. Nurse education in practice, 65, 103489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103489
  18. Luque-Alcaraz, O. M., Aparicio-Martinez, P., Gomera, A., & Vaquero-Abellan, M. (2022). Nurses as agents for achieving environmentally sustainable health systems: A bibliometric analysis. Journal of nursing management, 30(8), 3900–3908. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13798
  19. MacNeill, A. J., McGain, F., & Sherman, J. D. (2021). Planetary health care: a framework for sustainable health systems. The Lancet. Planetary Health, 5(2), e66–e68. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00005-X
  20. McLean, M., Madden, L., Maxwell, J., Schwerdtle, P.N., Richardson, J., Singleton, J., MacKenzie-Shalders, K., Behrens, G., Cooling, N., Matthew, R., & Horton, G. (2020).Planetary health: Educating the current and future health workforce.Clinical Education for the Health Professions: Theory and Practice, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6106-7_121-1
  21. National League for Nursing. Climate change and health. https://www.nln.org/news/newsroomnln-position-documents/nln-vision-series. (2022).
  22. Nyholm, L., Salmela, S., Nyström, L., & Koskinen, C. (2018).Sustainability in care through an ethical practice model.Nursing Ethics,25(2), 264-272. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733017714303
  23. Örs, M. (2022). A measurement of the environmental literacy of nursing students for a sustainable environment. Sustainability, 14(17), 11003. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141711003
  24. Poindexter K. (2023). Global Code Red: Nursing Education's Call to Climate Change. Nursing Education Perspectives, 44(2), 73–74. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000001103
  25. Polivka,B.J., & Chaudry,R.V.(2018).A scoping review of environmental health nursing research.Public Health Nursing,35(1), 10-17.https://doi.org/10.1111/phn.12373
  26. Raosoft I. (2020). Sample Size Calculator by Raosoft, Inc.. http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html
  27. Richardson, J., Clarke, D., Grose, J., & Warwick, P. (2019). A cohort study of sustainability education in nursing. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 20(4), 747-760.
  28. Richardson, J., Heidenreich, T., Álvarez-Nieto, C., Fasseur, F., Grose, J., Huss, N., Huynen, M., López-Medina, I. M., & Schweizer, A. (2016). Including sustainability issues in nurse education: A comparative study of first year student nurses' attitudes in four European countries. Nurse Education Today, 37, 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2015.11.005
  29. Shaw, E., Walpole, S., McLean, M., Alvarez-Nieto, C., Barna, S., Bazin, K., Behrens, G., Chase, H., Duane, B., El Omrani, O., Elf, M., Faerron Guzmán, C. A., Falceto de Barros, E., Gibbs, T. J., Groome, J., Hackett, F., Harden, J., Hothersall, E. J., Hourihane, M., Huss, N. M., … Woollard, R. (2021). AMEE Consensus Statement: Planetary health and education for sustainable healthcare. Medical Teacher, 43(3), 272–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2020.1860207
  30. Suárez-Baquero,D.F., & Walker,L.O.(2021).Critical analysis of the nursing metaparadigm in Spanish-speaking countries: Is the nursing metaparadigm universal?ANS. Advances in Nursing Science, 44(2), 111-122. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANS.0000000000000335
  31. Şen Olgay, S., Arslan, Ş., Sofi, A. C., & Tomak, D. B. (2023). Hemşirelik öğrencilerinin sürdürülebilir kalkınma farkındalık düzeyleri ile yeni çevresel paradigmaları arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi. Yaşam Boyu Hemşirelik Dergisi, 4(3), 167-182.
  32. Gürgen Şimşek, H., & Erkin, Ö. (2022). Sustainable development awareness and related factors in nursing students: A correlational descriptive study. Nurse education in practice, 64, 103420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103420
  33. The Earth Charter. (2000). https://earthcharter.org/read-the-earth-charter/
  34. Torres‐Alzate, H.M., Wilson, L.L., Harper, D.C., Ivankova, N.V., Heaton, K., & Shirey, M.R. (2020).Essential global health competencies for baccalaureate nursing students in the United States: A mixed methods Delphi study.Journal of Advanced Nursing, 76(2), 725-740. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14030
  35. United Nations (UN).(2015).Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf
  36. Van Der Cingel,M., & Brouwer,J.(2021).What makes a nurse today? A debate on the nursing professional identity and its need for change.Nursing Philosophy.22(2), 12343. https://doi.org/10.1111/nup.12343
  37. Wibeck, V. (2014). Enhancing learning, communication and public engagement about climate change–some lessons from recent literature. Environmental education research, 20(3), 387-411.
  38. World Health Organization (WHO).(2021).2021 WHO Health and Climate Change Survey Report. 2021. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240038509