Nurses as agents for achieving environmentally sustainable health systems: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Aim:To analyse the current scientific knowledge and research lines focused on envi-ronmentally sustainable health systems, including the role of nurses.Background:There seem to be differences between creating interventions focusedon environmentally sustainable health systems, including nurses, and the scarcity ofresearch on this topic, framed on the Sustainable Development Goals.Methods:A bibliometric analysis was carried out, via three databases (Web of Sci-ence, Scopus and Pubmed), and the guideline recommendations were followed toselect bibliometric data.Results:The search resulted in 159 publications, significantly increasing the trendsfrom 2017 to 2021 (p=.028). The most relevant countries in this area were theUnited States, the United Kingdom and Sweden. Also, the top articles were from rel-evant journals, indexed in Journal Citation Report, and the first and the second quar-tiles linked to the nursing field and citations (p< .001).Conclusion:Education is key to achieving environmentally sustainable health sys-tems via institutions and policies.Implications for Nursing Management:There is a lack of experimental data and poli-cies on achieving or maintaining environmentally sustainable health care systems,indicating that nurses have an important role and should be consulted and includedin decision-making policies regarding sustainability in the health care systems.