Assessment of the environmental risk perceptions and environmental attitudes of nursing students

Purpose: This is a descriptive study examining nursing students' perceptions of the environmental risks and their environmental attitudes. Methods: The study population comprised 2364 nursing students studying at universities in Istanbul in the fall semester of the 2012-2013 academic year. The sampling group was formed by 778 students which were selected by a stratified random sampling procedure. The data were collected using "The Student Personal Information Form", "The Environmental Risk Perception Scale" and "The Environmental Attitudes Scale". Findings: The students' mean score on perceptions of environmental risk was 6.04 +/- 0.81(min 2.56; max 7.00) and the mean score of their environmental attitudes was 4.02 +/- 0.47(min 2.28; max 5.00). It was determined that factors such as gender, interest in environmental issues, endorsement of the college course on environment as necessary, and participation in an environmental activity and awareness of non-government environmental organizations affected the environmental risk perception and environmental attitudes. A moderate positive relationship (r = 0.366, p<.001) was found between the students' environmental risk perceptions and their environmental attitudes. Conclusion: Effective environmental education should be planned at all stages of the nursing education.