Professional attitudes in infirmary toward the environment and sustainable development: institutional politics for the Naval Hospital, Guayaquil

Abstract

Introduction: In the context of sustainable development, nurses respond to calls for health care in all environments, to respond to global resolutions on health coverage. Thus, the practice of leadership when exercising their profession, encompasses a series of cooperative steps that are taken in a community, related to social responsibility, linked to the professionalism and ethics of nurses. Materials and methods: A qualitative research developed in the nursing staff of the Naval Hospital Guayaquil is presented, beginning with a diagnostic study to determine the level of appropriation of the professional attitudes of the nursing staff aimed at protecting the environment, from which an institutional policy was designed to achieve it. In this sense, a questionnaire was used to evaluate the attitudes of environmental sustainability in nursing professionals, together with other techniques such as document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and observation guide, which allowed determining the level of knowledge of the research problem and the elaboration of an Institutional Policy to develop professional attitudes towards environmental protection and sustainable development in nursing staff, which will expand development initiatives and relationships with Health Services and the Community. Results: The professional activity of nursing demands and creates the conditions conducive to the development of professional environmental attitudes that contribute to environmental care and sustainable development. The Institutional Policy was assessed by a workshop of specialists who recognized its relevance and transformative scope for the work of the center. Discussion: The usual practice of the nursing profession and the scope of social responsibility within the work environment managed from the care of the environment, have been limited by the poor inclusion of environmental programs, which serves as a precedent to develop an institutional policy at the Naval Hospital Guayaquil and thus develop professional attitudes towards environmental protection and sustainable development in nursing staff, which allows generating a sustainable alternative for society. Conclusions: The institutional policy to develop professional attitudes towards environmental protection and sustainable development in nursing staff, developed and placed in the hands of a group of specialists, allowed to recognize its relevance and the possibilities of socialization in the Naval Hospital of Guayaquil, being well received by the directors and stimulated the motivation of the work of nurses.