Environmental sustainability, healthcare workers and healthcare students: a literature review of attitudes and learning approaches

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: Today, increased attention has been placed on the healthcare industry and its workers in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Increases in facemask production, personal protective equipment, and the number of patients admitted into hospitals has resulted in a sharp rise in medical waste and environmental concerns. This has led to a greater interest by the research community to study the type of training and education that healthcare workers and students receive which could facilitate the implementation of sustainability activities during their work. Design/Methodology: We have conducted a literature review (2010 to 2022) on healthcare worker knowledge and attitudes in environmental sustainability and reviewed educational initiatives –independent or academic- that have been proposed to implement training in sustainability for health professionals. For article retrieval we used standard and non-standard search engines and databases including Pubmed, Web of Science, medRxiv and Google Scholar. Findings: The results indicate the important impact of worker attitudes towards sustainability and increased awareness of this issue affecting their work, but also limitations in knowledge and ability to participate in specific practical activities without organizational implementation. Originality: This review provides insights into the multiple academic, professional and independent educational initiatives in sustainability that have been launched in the last decade in almost all areas of care and the limitations of healthcare workers to include these initiatives in their daily practices, due to multiple barriers for their actual implementation.