Space Nursing for the Future Management of Astronaut Health in other Planets: A Literature Review

Abstract

Introduction The idea of exploring space excites more than one person, and not only astronauts but health professionals are also not indifferent to it because for a long time, human healthcare in space has been a priority directly involving the nursing profession; however, there is not much information available on this subject that it’s becoming more relevant every day. Objective This study aims to explore, review, and analyze existing literature to identify the basic needs of astronauts, nursing roles, and the challenges they will face in the context of human space exploration. Methods A literature review was conducted with bibliographic evidence of documents annexed to the following databases: WoS, MEDLINE through PubMed, Scopus, SciELO, CINAHL-EBSCO and Google Scholar. Previously, a search strategy was designed with descriptors: “Astronauts,” “Space Flight,” and “Nursing in Care,” using Boolean operators “OR” and “AND”. The languages were English and Spanish, there were no restrictions on the type of document and date of publication. Results 23 documents were selected after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The following results found in the present review have been categorized into 8 thematic areas: historical background, conceptual models and nursing theories applied to space, space environment, physiological changes in space flights, health problems and risks in space, nursing care in space and management of nursing care in space. Finally, future challenges of space nursing. Each of these categories is presented below. Conclusion Space Nursing has been constantly developing and its interventions will be required along with the advances in space exploration. It encourages innovation, implementation, building a knowledge base, and discovering new modalities of human healthcare to reach the frontiers of space.