Carbon footprint awareness of nursing students: a qualitative study

Abstract Backround The increasing impact of climate change on public and environmental health underscores the importance of understanding carbon footprints and adopting sustainable practices. Nursing students play a critical role in promoting environmental awareness and integrating eco-friendly prac...

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Main Authors: Mağfiret Kaşıkçı, Yeşim Bağcı, Zeynep Yıldırım, Ulviye Aydan Nacak
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-03-01
Series:BMC Nursing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03021-z
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author Mağfiret Kaşıkçı
Yeşim Bağcı
Zeynep Yıldırım
Ulviye Aydan Nacak
author_facet Mağfiret Kaşıkçı
Yeşim Bağcı
Zeynep Yıldırım
Ulviye Aydan Nacak
author_sort Mağfiret Kaşıkçı
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Backround The increasing impact of climate change on public and environmental health underscores the importance of understanding carbon footprints and adopting sustainable practices. Nursing students play a critical role in promoting environmental awareness and integrating eco-friendly practices into healthcare delivery. This study aims to assess nursing students’ awareness of the ‘Carbon Footprint’ and their suggestions for reducing their carbon footprint. Design Qualitative study. Methods Twelve fourth-year nursing students enrolled in the “Public Health Nursing” course within the nursing department from a university located in eastern Turkey participated in this study. Twelve face-to-face interviews were conducted. Transcripts were subjected to structured qualitative content analysis. Results As a result of the analysis of the data obtained from the participants, two main themes as ‘Perceived Impacts of Carbon Footprint’ and ‘Carbon Footprint Reduction Strategies’, four sub-themes as ‘Perceived Impact on Human Health’, ‘Perceived Impact on Environmental Health’, ‘Recommended Individual Strategies’ and ‘Recommended Institutional-Level Strategies’ and eighteen codes in total were created. Conclusion This study revealed that nursing students possess a fundamental awareness of the carbon footprint and its implications for human and environmental health. Integrating comprehensive environmental education into nursing curricula can empower future healthcare professionals to adopt and advocate for sustainable practices in both personal and professional domains.
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institution DOAJ
issn 1472-6955
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Nursing
spelling doaj-art-d1ea53a5cfcf411d8731b5e0a4514c3d2025-08-20T03:04:49ZengBMCBMC Nursing1472-69552025-03-012411810.1186/s12912-025-03021-zCarbon footprint awareness of nursing students: a qualitative studyMağfiret Kaşıkçı0Yeşim Bağcı1Zeynep Yıldırım2Ulviye Aydan Nacak3Departman of Fundamental of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Ataturk UniversityDepartman of Fundamental of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Ataturk UniversityDepartment of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ardahan UniversityDepartman of Fundamental of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Ataturk UniversityAbstract Backround The increasing impact of climate change on public and environmental health underscores the importance of understanding carbon footprints and adopting sustainable practices. Nursing students play a critical role in promoting environmental awareness and integrating eco-friendly practices into healthcare delivery. This study aims to assess nursing students’ awareness of the ‘Carbon Footprint’ and their suggestions for reducing their carbon footprint. Design Qualitative study. Methods Twelve fourth-year nursing students enrolled in the “Public Health Nursing” course within the nursing department from a university located in eastern Turkey participated in this study. Twelve face-to-face interviews were conducted. Transcripts were subjected to structured qualitative content analysis. Results As a result of the analysis of the data obtained from the participants, two main themes as ‘Perceived Impacts of Carbon Footprint’ and ‘Carbon Footprint Reduction Strategies’, four sub-themes as ‘Perceived Impact on Human Health’, ‘Perceived Impact on Environmental Health’, ‘Recommended Individual Strategies’ and ‘Recommended Institutional-Level Strategies’ and eighteen codes in total were created. Conclusion This study revealed that nursing students possess a fundamental awareness of the carbon footprint and its implications for human and environmental health. Integrating comprehensive environmental education into nursing curricula can empower future healthcare professionals to adopt and advocate for sustainable practices in both personal and professional domains.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03021-zNurseStudentCarbon footprintAwarenessQualitative study
spellingShingle Mağfiret Kaşıkçı
Yeşim Bağcı
Zeynep Yıldırım
Ulviye Aydan Nacak
Carbon footprint awareness of nursing students: a qualitative study
BMC Nursing
Nurse
Student
Carbon footprint
Awareness
Qualitative study
title Carbon footprint awareness of nursing students: a qualitative study
title_full Carbon footprint awareness of nursing students: a qualitative study
title_fullStr Carbon footprint awareness of nursing students: a qualitative study
title_full_unstemmed Carbon footprint awareness of nursing students: a qualitative study
title_short Carbon footprint awareness of nursing students: a qualitative study
title_sort carbon footprint awareness of nursing students a qualitative study
topic Nurse
Student
Carbon footprint
Awareness
Qualitative study
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03021-z
work_keys_str_mv AT magfiretkasıkcı carbonfootprintawarenessofnursingstudentsaqualitativestudy
AT yesimbagcı carbonfootprintawarenessofnursingstudentsaqualitativestudy
AT zeynepyıldırım carbonfootprintawarenessofnursingstudentsaqualitativestudy
AT ulviyeaydannacak carbonfootprintawarenessofnursingstudentsaqualitativestudy