Representations about Nursing Care within the Undergraduate Curriculum in the Context of an Environmental Crisis

Authors

Keywords:

Nursing students, environment, climate change, curriculums, universities.

Abstract

Introduction: The environmental crisis has been suggested to be one of the greatest threats to public health. However, this phenomenon is given little attention during the training of health professionals.

Objective: To identify the social representations about the teaching-learning of nursing care in the context of the global environmental crisis, from the perspective of university teaching nurses in Chile.

Methods: A qualitative, descriptive and hermeneutic study was carried out, with a process-based approach using social representations. The method for producing information was the focused interview. The sampling was theoretical and the sample size was determined by saturation criteria (n=15). Triangulation of sources was performed and inductive qualitative content analysis was used.

Results: Three thematic lines appeared: 1. climate change and environment within the curriculum; 2. opportunities as part of teaching and learning about climate change and environment (including four categories: students' sensitivity towards environmental issues, professors' personal motivations, facilitating subjects, and institutional policies); and 3. obstacles in teaching and learning about climate change and environment (including three categories: biomedical model, resistance to change, and scarcity of interdisciplinarity).

Conclusions: Topics related to the global environmental crisis are not considered within the nursing curriculums; they are included in subjects only when the professors are interested in doing so.

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Author Biography

Lizet Helena Véliz-Rojas, Universidad Católica del Norte

Enfermera. Magíster en Salud Pública. Doctora en Enfermería

Published

2023-09-20

How to Cite

1.
Véliz-Rojas LH, González-Geraldo AM, Abarca Carvajal M, Abarca Vivanco C, Leiva Arancibia CLA, Alballay Torres A. Representations about Nursing Care within the Undergraduate Curriculum in the Context of an Environmental Crisis. Educación Médica Superior [Internet]. 2023 Sep. 20 [cited 2025 Mar. 10];37(3). Available from: https://ems.sld.cu/index.php/ems/article/view/3727

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Artículos Originales