Abstract:

There have been numerous calls for more sustainable health systems, and as educators of large groups of health professionals, nurse education and medical education need to equip graduates with the “sustainability-related competencies needed for the transition toward more sustainable health systems” (Huss et al. 2021, p.196). The International Council on Nursing has called on nurse education, for example, to “Embed the concept of sustainability in nursing practice as well as climate change-related knowledge into nursing curricula and in post-registration continuing education” (ICN, 2018, p.4).
Using a bespoke mapping tool developed by researchers at the University, this paper will present the results of an assessment of the Irish undergraduate nurse education programme in terms of the presence of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). the results will illustrate how the wide range of the UNSDGs can be found to be related to existing nursing education and practices, and it will identify where opportunities exist to extend the work of health professionals towards the achievement of these important goals.

Keywords:

Nursing, sustainable development, sustainability, climate crisis.