Building Sustainability Competencies in Future Nurses (SUST-COMP)

April 1, 2026 updated by: Emel GÜR, Çankırı Karatekin University

Developing Sustainability Competencies in Nursing Students: A Randomized Controlled Study

Global warming and social justice issues are increasing the complexity of global healthcare delivery. Health systems significantly contribute to environmental harm through carbon emissions, medical waste, and resource overuse. Nurses, as the largest group in healthcare, face workplace hazards and environmental challenges, highlighting the need for institutions to promote sustainable practices and workplace safety. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize integrated social, economic, and environmental sustainability, with health and universal health coverage as key themes. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) underscores nurses' vital role in achieving these goals by linking nursing care to public health, sustainability, climate action, and education. Developing sustainability competencies in nursing education requires practical training in environmentally responsible behaviors within healthcare settings, beyond theoretical knowledge.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Global warming and the integration of the concepts of equality and social justice into diseases and care are making healthcare delivery more complex and challenging at a global level today. Health systems contribute significantly to environmental degradation through considerable carbon emissions, medical waste production, and excessive resource use.

Nurses, the largest group within the health system, not only face a high rate of workplace accidents but also encounter a range of challenges such as increased medical waste production and carbon emissions. Therefore, it is important for healthcare institutions to support environmentally friendly behaviors and to ensure workplace safety and sustainable performance by achieving sustainable development .

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are integrated and indivisible; they acknowledge that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Health holds a significant place in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which sets universal health coverage as a central theme and attaches even greater importance to the interplay of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainable development. The 2017 report by the ICN also highlighted the role of nurses in the SDGs by providing case studies that exemplify the link between individual and public health in nursing care. In subsequent years, ICN reports addressed the relationships between sustainability, climate change, and planetary health, emphasizing the active role of nurses in improving community health and influencing policy. Furthermore, they underscored the importance of integrating the concept of sustainability into nursing practice and education and expressed concerns over students' impact on planetary health.

To adopt a sustainability mindset in nursing education, it is necessary to impart knowledge, attitudes, and skills during training. The literature emphasizes the need to develop competencies through behaviors such as adopting waste reduction, energy conservation, and environmentally friendly practices, especially those that are specific to hospital environments, within the context of sustainable healthcare services. In this context, sustainability competencies should not remain at the theoretical knowledge level only but should also be supported by concrete practices that students can observe and interpret in the hospital environment.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

107

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Being a nursing student currently enrolled in the "HEM304 Nursing Management" course.
  • Volunteering to participate in the research and providing informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having participated in a similar sustainability training program previously.
  • Being on medical or academic leave during the study period.
  • Withdrawing from the study voluntarily at any stage.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Sustainability Training
Nursing students who receive a structured sustainability competency training program
Behavioral: Sustainability Training
A [1 week] training program focusing on environmental, social, and economic sustainability competencies in nursing care.
Active Comparator: Standard Nursing Curriculum
Nursing students do not receive the sustainability training
Other: Standard Nursing Curriculum
Nursing students do not receive the sustainability training
Other: No Training
Nursing students do not receive the sustainability training
Other: No Training
Nursing students do not receive the sustainability training
Experimental: Clinical Practice
Participate in their scheduled clinical hospital rotations and also assessment the clinic throughout sustainability
Behavioral: Clinical Practice
Participate in their scheduled clinical hospital rotations and also assessment the clinic throughout sustainability (up to 3 weeks)
Other: No Clinical Practice
Nursing students do not participate in their scheduled clinical hospital rotations
Other: No Clinical Practice
Nursing students do not participate in clinical hospital rotations during the study period
Active Comparator: Standard Clinical Practice
They participate in their scheduled clinical hospital rotations (standard curriculum).
Other: Standard Clinical Practice
They participate in their scheduled clinical hospital rotations up to 3 weeks (standard curriculum).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The Sustainability Attitudes in Nursing Survey (SANS-2)
Time Frame: Baseline (Pre-test) and 4 weeks after the intervention (Post-test).
The Sustainability Attitudes in Nursing Survey consists of 9 items rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale. Total scores range from 9 to 63, where higher scores indicate a more positive/higher level of sustainability attitude. The average of the item scores is calculated and a higher total score indicates a better attitude towards sustainability in nursing. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the original scale was reported as 0.82, while the Turkish version demonstrated a Cronbach's alpha of 0.76.
Baseline (Pre-test) and 4 weeks after the intervention (Post-test).
Clinical Sustainability Practice
Time Frame: Throughout the clinical rotation period (up to 3 weeks)
Assessment of students' sustainable behaviors during clinical rotations. Data will be collected regarding four key areas: waste management (proper segregation and reduction), material management (efficient use of medical supplies), water consumption, and energy conservation (turning off unnecessary equipment/lights). Evaluation will be based on Rubric scale. Higher scores indicate better adherence to sustainable healthcare practices.
Throughout the clinical rotation period (up to 3 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Çankırı Karatekin University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

May 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2026/17

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

There are no plans to share individual participant data to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the nursing students involved in the study.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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