Awareness, worry, and hope regarding climate change among nurses: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to determine nurses’ awareness, worry and hope levels about climate change.

Design and Methods

This cross‐sectional study was conducted with 511 nurses. Data were collected using a Personal Information Form, the Global Climate Change Awareness Scale, the Climate Change Worry Scale, and the Climate Change Hope Scale.

Findings

The mean scores of the participating nurses obtained from the Climate Change Awareness Scale (71.72 ± 18.11) and Climate Change Worry Scale (35.36 ± 10.51) and Climate Change Hope Scale (38.67 ± 8.80) were moderate, and there was a significant positive correlation between them.

Conclusions

The nurses who participated in this study had moderate levels of climate change-related awareness, worry, and hope. As their climate change awareness scores increased, their worry and hope scores also increased. Interventions that will raise climate change awareness in nurses such as education programs and awareness campaigns may increase their levels of worry and hope that will mobilize them for the solution to the climate change problem.

Keywords:

• Awareness
• climate change
• hope
• nurse
• worry

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the study participants.

Disclosure statement

The author reports no actual or potential conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was performed in compliance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, and the research protocol was approved by the Cumhuriyet University’s Clinical Research Ethics Board (Ethical approval number: 2021-12/22).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.