What nurses think about the environmental issues

Resumo

The study aimed to know what nurses think about the environmental issues. Qualitative descriptive-exploratory research, carried out with nurses of a University Hospital. Data were collected between November 2010 and March 2011, through semi-structured interview and analyzed based on the content analysis reference. The nurses have different views about the environment and the notion that we face an important environmental crisis. They state that there is indeed an interface between health and environment, but that they were not instructed about the topic. They understand that they do need to act in a responsible way towards environment. The debate about the health and environment interface needs to be broadened in the everyday life of the nursing professional, in order to raise the professionals’ awareness about the environmental sustainability.