Introduction
Environmental health is vital to any comprehensive public health system that focuses on the connections between people and the environment, promotes health and well-being, and helps create healthy, safe communities(1). All things in the environment exist in solid, liquid, or gaseous form, interacting with pollution and human beings (2). The discipline of environmental health works to reduce exposure to harmful substances in the air, water, soil, and food necessary to protect children (1, 2). It focuses on environmental hazards (environmental risks, water, hazardous wastes, climate change, hygiene and sanitation, toxic metals, and chemicals) that affect children in several ways (3).
Environmental toxicants can lead our children to profound adverse health outcomes either from the parents or the environment (4). In the sequence of descriptive age periods, children are sensitive and highly affected by environmental hazards due to parental exposure before conception, exposure in the uterus, or exposure after birth (5). Biologically, although children are small, they eat more food, breathe more air and drink more water than adults per their weight (6). Children are at high risk for environmental hazards mainly due to immaturity (developmentally and immunologically); putting their hands or objects in their mouth and playing on the ground are the most common behaviors that increase their exposure to environmental hazards (7). Environmental health risks are shared mainly at home, school, and community (8).
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) elements: good health and well-being, clean water and sanitation, and climate actions are interconnected and imperative triangles for reducing neonatal and childhood mortality (9). Globally, the environment contributes to about 13.7 million (24%) deaths, including one in four deaths of children under five years of age and more than a quarter (23%) of disease burdens (10). The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 1.8 billion (93%) children under 15 breathe polluted air, putting their health and development at serious risk (11). Blood lead poisoning (at or above 5micrrogram/deciliter, ≥5 µg/dL) was in about 800 million (about one in three) children mainly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (12).
Children endure a disproportionate share of environmental hazards and their immediate and long-term effects, resulting in disease, impairments, and mortality (13). Environmental risk factors (foodborne toxins, poor sanitation, dirty home, poor quality cooking fuels, dirty and poor local waste disposal) contribute to stunting in children (14). Additionally, violent behaviors, poor physical growth, and incompetence in mental activities (attention deficit and poor academic performance) are among the long-term impacts of environmental hazards (9).
Preventing childhood mortality by 25% could be achieved through environmental cleanup efforts. Nearly two million deaths of children under five years old are linked to the environment each year (15). It is the responsibility of nurses to safeguard the community from the health consequences of environmental hazards (16). All nurses should be knowledgeable about the fundamental pathways of exposure to environmental hazards, prevention and control strategies, as well as effective interdisciplinary interventions (17). Nursing education is required to include information about climate change at all levels in order to equip present and future nurses with the knowledge needed to provide care (18).
Despite the increasing negative impacts of environmental health over time, there is a low level of concern regarding the inclusion of children’s environmental health in nursing education in Ethiopia. Nursing students are a valuable resource for individuals, families, communities, and policy makers, including in the development of curriculum. In Ethiopia, there is a lack of content related to children’s environmental health in nursing education, and training in this area is non-existent. Furthermore, based on our search, there is no study aimed at assessing the knowledge and skills of nursing students regarding children’s environmental health. Therefore, this study seeks to evaluate the level of knowledge and skills of future nurses in relation to children’s environmental health.
Methods
Study area, design and period
The research was conducted at Wallaga University (WU), Rift Valley University (RVU), and New Generation University College (NGUC), located in Nekemte town, Ethiopia, all of which offer degree programs in the field of Nursing. An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was implemented from August 1 to August 5, 2023, involving nursing students enrolled in degree programs at the mentioned institutions. Approximately 2780 nursing students were enrolled in the academy.
Study population
The study population consisted of nursing students who had completed at least one nursing course at a hospital.
Sample size and sampling procedure
To determine the sample size, the single population proportion formula was used, considering a 50% proportion (p), a 95% confidence level, and a 5% margin of error. The calculated sample size was 423, and after accounting for a 10% non-response rate and a design effect of 1.5, the final sample size was 634.
A sample of 634 nursing students was randomly selected from three academic institutions (WU, RVU, and NGUC) after proportional allocation to each institution. The students were identified from their respective registrar offices and selected based on inclusion criteria using simple random sampling.
Variables
The dependent variables were the knowledge and skill of the students in Children Environmental Health (CEH). Independent variables included demographic and educational factors such as age, gender, year of study, study program, and received training (lecture) about CEH.
Operational definitions
Knowledge: The knowledge questions were utilized to categorize the level of knowledge as excellent, very good, good, insufficient, or poor based on the following score ranges: ≥90%, 80-89.99%, 60-79.99%, 40-59.99%, and <40%, respectively.
Skill: The skill questions were employed to categorize the level of skill as excellent, very good, good, insufficient, or poor based on the following score ranges: ≥90%, 80-89.99%, 70-79.99%, 50-69.99%, and <50%, respectively.
Data quality control
Before the commencement of the actual study, a pretest was conducted at RVU Gimbi campus, located west of the main town (Nekemte). Minor adjustments were made based on the pretest findings. For the study, five data collectors and two supervisors were recruited and received a comprehensive two-day training on the principles of data collection and handling. The principal investigator conducted nightly checks to ensure the consistency and completeness of the data.
Data processing and analysis
Following data collection, the information was cleaned and checked for completeness and consistency using Epi Info version 4.6. Subsequently, the data was exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Descriptive statistics were employed to present the findings in narrative and tabular forms. The Generalized Linear Method (GLM) was utilized to identify the predictors of nursing students’ knowledge and skills about CEH. In this model, a significance level of p < 0.05 and adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval were used to identify statistically associated factors.
Results
Demographic and educational characteristics of the participants (N=589)
In this study, a total of 634 students were invited to participate, of which 589 completed the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 93%. The mean age of the participants was 24.76 years, with a standard deviation of 4.97 years (24.76±4.97). The gender distribution was nearly equal, with approximately 50% male and 50% female participants. Moreover, 68% of the participants were in their third year of study, while 20.5% were in their fourth year. The majority of the participants were enrolled in comprehensive nursing programs, constituting over three-fourths of the sample. Additionally, 64% of the students reported not having received any training or lectures on children’s environmental health, while the remaining proportion had undergone such training (
Table 1).
Knowledge of the nursing students about children’s environmental health (N=589)
The study revealed that the majority of nursing students demonstrated insufficient knowledge about children’s environmental health (56%), with an additional 23% exhibiting a poor level of knowledge, and none scoring ≥90% (
Figure 1). Furthermore, a significant number of students provided correct responses to items assessing risk factors for respiratory diseases (81.7%) and asthma (81.7%). Conversely, fewer students demonstrated knowledge regarding the effects of nitrogen oxide and tobacco smoke on the skin (22.8%), and identified schools and nurseries (16.5%) and parks and gardens (12.2%) as less hazardous environments (
Table 2).
Skills towards children’s environmental health
In this survey, 34% of participants demonstrated insufficient skill in addressing children’s environmental health, while 25% and 27% of the learners exhibited good and better levels of proficiency in preventing children from ecological hazards, respectively (
Figure 2). The majority of students displayed a high level of skill in identifying environmental risk factors to which children are exposed (81.7%) and risk factors for diseases associated with the environment (71.2%). Similarly, nursing students expressed their preparedness to work in a Pediatrics Environmental Health Specialty Unit (
Table 3).
Predictors of nursing students’ knowledge and skill in children’s environmental health
We employed the Generalized Linear Method (GLM) to identify the determinants of nursing students’ knowledge and skills in CEH. The analysis revealed that older age, male gender, receipt of training or lectures on CEH, and higher skill scores in CEH were associated with increased odds of achieving a high expertise score among nursing students. Conversely, being a senior student and studying comprehensive nursing were associated with increased odds of achieving a low knowledge result. Additionally, age and attitude scores of nursing students were significantly associated with their knowledge of CEH (
Table 4).
The odds of older students achieving high knowledge results were 1.06 times greater than those of younger students, with a 51.45% probability for older students to have a high knowledge level. Furthermore, students who demonstrated high skills in CEH had 1.02 times the odds of those who demonstrated low skills in CEH (50.66%) (
Table 4).
Similarly, using the same model (GLM), the odds of a higher score towards CEH skills are reported among students who are aged and male, attending their first and second year classes, studying a comprehensive course, and scoring a better result about CEH knowledge. The low scores in skills were found among the students who received training or lectures about CEH. However, a statistically significant difference is shown between the levels of skills and age, gender, and knowledge score.
In terms of nursing students’ skills, the odds of male nursing students achieving a favorable level of skill are 1.67 times higher than the same odds for female nursing students, with a 62.54% probability for male nursing students to score favorably in CEH skills. Additionally, the odds of older students achieving high skill results are 1.05 times greater than the odds for younger students, with a 51.36% probability for older students to have a high skill level. Moreover, students with a higher level of knowledge about CEH have 1.06 times higher odds of scoring better than students with a lower level of knowledge, with a 51.45% probability for students who scored high in skills (
Table 4).
Discussion
Approximately 23% of worldwide deaths among children are believed to be caused by environmental factors (19). Globally, nurses recognize the importance of environmental health hazards and understand the significance of regulations in promoting health and prevention. They play a crucial role in educating and preventing environmental issues, as well as improving healthcare environments and reducing waste.
The susceptibility of children to environmental hazards demands a comprehensive education for nursing students on the subject of children’s environmental health, as it enables them to effectively prevent and mitigate the detrimental effects (20-22). Nurses possess a distinct advantage in identifying environmental hazards that impact children (23-25). Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and skills regarding children’s environmental health among nursing students in Nekemte town.
The current study reveals that nursing students have insufficient knowledge about CEH, with a prevalence rate of 56%. This finding was lower than the study conducted in the USA (79.4%) and England (77.59) of nursing student knowledge regarding children’s environmental health (CEH) (26, 27). The difference might be due to the large sample size undertaken by the counterparts. However, the findings of this study were slightly equivalent to those of the study conducted in Croatia (58.49%) (28).
The study found that the age and attitude scores of nursing students were significant predictors of knowledge about children’s environmental health. Older nursing students were 1.06 times more likely to have knowledge about CEH compared to younger students. Similarly, nursing students with higher skill scores were 1.02 times more likely to have sufficient knowledge about CEH compared to those with lower skill scores.
Furthermore, approximately one-third (34%) of the study participants had insufficient skills in relation to children’s environmental health. This finding aligns with a study conducted in England, which reported similar results (33.62%) (27). However, the finding was lower than the study conducted in USA (47.2%) (26).
In the present study, the method analysis identified significant associations between the skill of nurses in relation to children’s environmental health and certain demographic and educational factors. Particularly, male nursing students, nursing students of older age, and nursing students with a higher level of knowledge were found to be significant factors in the skill of nurses in children’s environmental health.
The likelihood of male nursing students scoring a favorable level of skill is 1.67 times greater than that of female nursing students. The probability of older students attaining high skill scores is 1.05 times higher than that of younger students. Students with a higher level of knowledge about CEH achieve a higher score, which is 1.06 times greater than that of students with a lower level of knowledge about CEH.
Limitations of the study
Since a cross-sectional study design only studies a single moment in time, our study cannot be used to analyse behaviour over a period of time or establish long-term trends. Furthermore, because the study was conducted in universities, the knowledge and skills of nursing at health care institutions weren’t evaluated, which may be a concern.
Conclusion
The study found that nursing students have insufficient knowledge about children’s environmental health. Besides, the overall knowledge of children’s environmental health was 56%. The gender of the students, age, year of their study, training history of the participants, and field of study of the students were significantly associated factors with their knowledge of children’s environmental health. Therefore, female students should be considered for more tutorials to be effectively knowledgeable regarding children’s environmental health. Providing course revision for third- and fourth-year students as they receive the related courses during their first and second years Moreover, future researchers should include health care nurses to address further significant factors of insufficient knowledge.
Funding
No fund was obtained.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Ethical clearance was obtained from the school of nursing ethical review committee at Wallaga University, the college of medicine and health sciences, and the institutional research review board. Then an official letter was written to each campus for permission and support; however, participants have the right to accept or deny participating in the study. Oral informed consent was obtained before data collection. The students’ identification information (name and ID number) was not collected, and confidentiality was maintained. All data was collected from the students in a confidential manner and used only for study purposes.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank data collectors and supervisors for their patience and commitment to gathering data. Again, we want to express our heartfelt thanks to the WU, RVUC, and NGUC administrative staff for their permission to do this study without any interference. And lastly, we want to thank you for the study participants for their valuable time.
Conflicts of Interest
This manuscript maintains no competing financial interest declaration from any person or organization, or non-financial competing interests such as political, personal, religious, ideological, academic, intellectual, commercial, or any other.
Abbreviations
BSc- Bachelor of Sciences, CEH- Children’s Environmental Health, GLM- Generalized Linear KM- Kilometer, Method, ID- Identification, NGUC- New-generation University College, RVUC- Rift Valley University College, WU- Wallaga University.
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