Nursing Research Informing the SDGs: Contributions and Challenges for the Future

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the next evolution of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The key difference between the MDGs and the SDGs is that the latter applies to all countries, not just those with low- or middle-income status. As we consider the position of nursing in the implementation of the SDGs, our global body of research has already made significant contributions to meeting multiple SDGs and has even greater potential to make a broader impact in the future. The purpose of this presentation will be to highlight where nursing’s significant contributions to the SDGs have occurred through research and where there are opportunities to expand the scope and impact of our research in the near and far future. This presentation will highlight how nurses can contribute to sustainable development both domestically and internationally through research. Grounded in the work of Amartya Sen, we will begin the presentation by reviewing key concepts pertaining to sustainable development. In principal, sustainable development is social and economic development that benefits all and reduces inequality in all its forms. We will offer conceptual considerations for how these ideas can be adapted to nursing and the research of the profession. We will then focus on the core areas of the SDGs sensitive to nursing research in our presentation—Good Health, No Poverty, No Hunger, Quality Education, Stable Work, and Gender Equality. Opportunities for nursing research include the growth areas of institutional strengthening; infrastructure development; environmental elements of clean water, soil, and air; sustainable cities and consumption; and finally, partnerships. The last SDG is critical for nursing to demonstrate through its research not only for the sake of advancing its professional agenda, but also to ensure that we retain a professional voice at the policy table that is grounded in an evidence-based foundation produced from an interdisciplinary body of research that includes studies generated by our colleagues.