Bridging Sustainability and Planetary Health: Nursing Students’ Sustainability Consciousness and Perceived Competency for Sustainable Health Care

Climate change, environmental degradation, and increasing pressure on health-care resources highlight the need for nurses who are prepared to promote planetary health and sustainable health care. Nursing education provides an important opportunity to develop students’ sustainability consciousness and planetary health competencies. This study examined nursing students’ sustainability consciousness, including self-reported knowingness, attitudes, and stewardship-related behaviour, and their perceived planetary health competency, and explored associated sociodemographic and academic factors. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 undergraduate nursing students at the College of Nursing, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. As these outcomes were assessed using self-report measures, the findings reflect students’ reported perceptions and behaviours rather than objectively observed knowledge or practices. Data were collected using the Short Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire and the Planetary Health Competency Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation tests, group comparisons, and multiple linear regression analyses were performed. Students demonstrated relatively high sustainability consciousness and moderate-to-high perceived planetary health competency. Overall sustainability consciousness was not significantly related to planetary health competency. Previous sustainability education was associated with higher sustainability consciousness, whereas the examined sociodemographic and academic characteristics were not significantly associated with planetary health competency. Nursing curricula should integrate sustainability and planetary health education across academic levels and provide experiential opportunities that connect environmental knowledge with sustainable health-care practices, stewardship, and climate-responsive nursing.