Environmental awareness training and nursing students' attitudes: A quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Environmental issues in nursing may not seem urgent since nursing primarily involves interacting with patients in hospitals or communities. For this perspective, studying nursing students' attitudes towards environmental issues is crucial. Unfortunately, research in this area remains scarce in the literature. Therefore, this study aimed to improve nursing students' attitudes toward environmental issues through a specific training program. The study employed a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design that involving 164 students from the Faculty of Nursing at Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Türkiye. Of these, 79 students were assigned to the experimental group and 85 to the control group. Data were collected between November 2022 and July 2023. Intervention group received a 4-week training program related to environmental issues. In contrast, the control group received no usual or standard program. Prior to commencing the study, ethical clearance and informed consent were obtained. Data analysis was performed using SPSS; appropriate tests were selected based on normality results, and statistical significance was set at p<0.05. The study highlighted that the participants in the intervention group had significantly higher scores regarding environmental issues compared to the control group. These high scores were observed across all sub-dimensions, specifically in Receiving, Reacting, Valuation, Organizing, Personalizing, and Environmental Problems Attitude. The study's findings suggest that universities and governments should prioritize environmental education and literacy programs. This is essential for enhancing nursing care, particularly in community settings. 

Keywords: Attitude, environmental issues, health education, nursing care, nursing students