Abstract
The study aimed to describe the views nursing students had on the psychosocial impacts and on the coping strategies of a population made vulnerable in the context of the construction of the Petrochemical Complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was a descriptive research action using a qualitative approach and including 18 nursing students by means of the application of photovoice techniques and focus groups during the month of May 2015. The data were subjected to analytical content treatment. As consequences of the plant's construction process, participants only highlighted drug consumption and trafficking, sexual violence, and the availability of health services as social impacts with great potential to lead to psychological issues in the population, such as anxiety and depression. Only two participants problematized strategies to cope with environmental stressors focused on collective action. It was concluded that including a cross-section mode of the socio-environmental theme – and its relation to the mental health of populations made vulnerable by the industrial project construction contexts in the country, in undergraduate courses and other academic spaces – is essential to encourage the critical, reflective, and political skills of future nurses on the relationship between development projects, environmental degradation, equity and psychological impact on the population.
Keywords
mental health; environmental health; perception; nursing students