# Professional competencies in environmental health in a nursing curriculum from the perspective of students

## TL;DR

This study explores how nursing students perceive the development of environmental health competencies in their curriculum and highlights the need for interdisciplinary approaches.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into student perceptions of environmental health competencies in nursing education and identifies gaps in curricular design.

## Key findings

- Students perceived collaboration as the most achieved environmental health competency.
- Advocacy for environmental justice was the least achieved competency.
- Students emphasized the need for interdisciplinary curricular changes in environmental health.

## Abstract

to analyze the curricular activities that contributed to the achievement of professional competencies in environmental health in an undergraduate nursing course from the perspective of students.

a descriptive-exploratory study of a qualitative nature, which used an online form with 22 nursing undergraduates from the last two semesters of the course at a federal university. Data were treated by thematic categorical analysis and descriptive statistics.

two thematic axes emerged: “Fragmented curricular activities and achievement of competencies in environmental health” and “Need for interdisciplinary curricular components in Environmental Health”. The most achieved competency in the students’ perception was the ability to seek collaboration with people and institutions to promote healthy environments (91.3%), and the least achieved was the ability to advocate for environmental justice and reduce health inequities (34.8%).

curricular changes such as the inclusion of interdisciplinary practices in environmental health were understood by students as indispensable to the training of nurses.

analisar as atividades curriculares que contribuíram para o alcance de competências profissionais em saúde ambiental em um curso de graduação em Enfermagem, na perspectiva de estudantes.

estudo descritivo-exploratório, de natureza qualitativa, que empregou formulário on-line com 22 graduandos de Enfermagem dos dois últimos períodos do curso de uma universidade federal. Os dados foram tratados por meio de análise categorial temática e estatística descritiva.

emergiram dois eixos temáticos: “Atividades curriculares fragmentadas e alcance de competências em saúde ambiental” e “Necessidade de componentes curriculares interdisciplinares em Saúde Ambiental”. A competência mais alcançada, na percepção dos estudantes, foi a capacidade de buscar colaboração com pessoas e instituições para promover ambientes saudáveis (91,3%); e a menos alcançada foi a de advogar pela justiça ambiental e redução das iniquidades em saúde (34,8%).

mudanças curriculares, como a inclusão de práticas interdisciplinares em saúde ambiental, foram compreendidas pelos estudantes como indispensáveis à formação dos enfermeiros.