Abstract: Background: Nurses are in a privileged position to detect
environmental risks among children. The objective was
to determine attitudes, knowledge, and skills related to
children?s environmental health in undergraduate nursing
students. Method: A cross-sectional study was designed in
eight universities (n = 2,462) from September 2017 to June
2018. Descriptive values and multivariate analysis of variance
were calculated using three questionnaires. Results:
Of the total 2,462 students in the sample, 2,155 had a good
attitude regarding addressing children?s environmental
health problems, 501 had good knowledge, and 1,162
had good skills. Students who had attended a session on
sustainability more than 3 months prior had a better attitude
(9.93%), knowledge (11.16%), and skills (3.82%).
Second course students and men had better environmental
competency (p < .001). Conclusion: Undergraduate
nursing students have good attitudes; however, they lack
knowledge and skills. There is a need to include children?s
environmental health in nursing curricula.
