Evaluation of the relationship between nurses' environmental awareness and climate anxiety

Purpose: Evaluation of the relationship between nurses' environmental awareness and climate anxiety. Materials and Methods: It is based on survey data conducted through face-to-face interviews with a total of 302 nurses who meet the inclusion criteria and are working in a public hospital between August 2024 and November 2024. It is a descriptive type correlational study. Data collection tool: Socio demographic form, Climate Anxiety Scale and Nursing Environmental Awareness Scale were used. SPSS 22.0 package program was used to evaluate the data. In the analysis of the data, number percentage distribution and descriptive statistics were performed to describe demographic characteristics. Since the data showed normal distribution, independent groups t test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression model were used to analyze the data. Findings: 85.1% of the participants were women and 74.5% were married; 88.7% did not receive training on the environment. In the Health Relation sub-dimension of the Environmental Awareness-Nursing Awareness Scale, the average score of nurses over the age of 40 was found to be high (p<0.05). It was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between the Environmental Awareness - Nurses' Professional Ecological Behavior Scale behavior subscale score averages of women and those who received environmental education (p<0.05). It was found that nurses who received environmental training had higher mean scores on the Environmental Awareness - Nurses' Professional Ecological Behavior Scale behavior subscale (p<0.05). A low-level positive significant relationship was found between the Climate Change Anxiety Scale and the Environmental Awareness scale behavior and difficulty sub-dimensions (r =0,23, p<0.01; r= 0,149, p<0.05; r= 0,194 p<0.05 respectively ). Result: The relationship between nurses' environmental awareness and climate anxiety was found to be low and significant. Among the participants, female nurses over the age of 40 had high climate change anxiety; It has been observed that environmental awareness increases as the number of years working in the profession increases. It was found that nurses over the age of 40 and married were able to associate their current environmental awareness with the healthcare system. Keywords: Nursing, Environmental awareness, Climate Change Anxiety, Sustainability, Climate Change