Professional competencies in environmental health in a nursing curriculum from the perspective of students

to analyze the curricular activities that contributed to the achievement of professional competencies in environmental health in an undergraduate nursing course from the perspective of students.

a descriptive-exploratory study of a qualitative nature, which used an online form with 22 nursing undergraduates from the last two semesters of the course at a federal university. Data were treated by thematic categorical analysis and descriptive statistics.

two thematic axes emerged: "Fragmented curricular activities and achievement of competencies in environmental health" and "Need for interdisciplinary curricular components in Environmental Health". The most achieved competency in the students' perception was the ability to seek collaboration with people and institutions to promote healthy environments (91.3%), and the least achieved was the ability to advocate for environmental justice and reduce health inequities (34.8%).

curricular changes such as the inclusion of interdisciplinary practices in environmental health were understood by students as indispensable to the training of nurses.