Factors influencing disaster nursing core competencies of emergency nurses

Disaster response self-efficacy of nursing students: Perceived level and associated factors

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to assess the level of disaster response self-efficacy (DRSE) among nursing students in Bangladesh and examine the factors influencing their level of DRSE.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study design was used for this research. A self-administered descriptive structured questionnaire was used to collect survey data from 573 students of nursing colleges in four districts: Chattogram, Dhaka, Khulna, and Rajshahi. The Bengali version of the DRSE Scale was adopted and used to measure the outcome variable.

RESULTS

The nursing students exhibited a moderate level of disaster response self-efficacy (Mean = 3.63; SD = 0.73), as well as moderate levels of knowledge (Mean = 3.87; SD = 0.71), skills (Mean = 4.24; SD = 0.91), and preparedness (Mean = 4.31; SD = 0.76) in disaster management. Significant positive correlations were found between respondents' disaster knowledge (r = 0.447, p < 0.01), skills (r = 0.516, p < 0.01), and preparedness (r = 0.701, p < 0.01) with disaster response self-efficacy. Gender, age, having children in the household, post-basic BSc in nursing students, and disaster knowledge were significantly associated with nursing students' DRSE. Female respondents had a 0.27-unit lower DRSE (β = -0.270 (95 % CI: -0.389, -0.115), p < 0.001) than male respondents. Besides, the respondents per unit increase in disaster knowledge occurred a 0.438-unit increase in DRSE (β = 0.438 (95 % CI: 0.367, 0.510), p < 0.001). However, no statistically significant associations were found between the respondents' disaster experience and disaster-related training with their DRSE scores.

CONCLUSION

Improving disaster management knowledge by including disaster management-related courses and organizing more training, drills, seminars, and workshops may improve their DRSE.

Factors affecting nurses' emergency competencies in public health emergency: A cross-sectional study based on the stress-coping adaptation model

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the factors associated with stress, resilience, coping styles, and emergency competencies when nurses are faced with a public health emergency.

DESIGN

This study used a cross-sectional design.

SAMPLE

Study data came from a survey of 646 nurses who were from a tertiary hospital in Southern China in March-June 2022.

METHODS

Participants responded to self-report questionnaires through a web-based survey. Stress, resilience, emergency competencies, and response to public emergencies were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the core competencies of nurses in public health emergencies, and a simplified coping style questionnaire.

RESULTS

A total of 646 nurses participated in this study. Slightly over half of the participants were ≤30 years old, and almost all were female. Resilience, positive coping, and negative coping were positively correlated with emergency competencies. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that resilience, working years, and participation in the treatment of infectious diseases were significant predictors of emergency competencies.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that nurses require additional training in emergency management and clinical practice to enhance their emergency competencies. More interventions and social support should be provided to improve nurses' resilience and positive coping strategies when they encounter public health emergencies.

The core competencies in disaster nursing of new graduate nurses in Guangdong, China: A cross-sectional study

AIM

This study aimed to assess the level of core competencies in disaster nursing of New Graduate Nurses (NGNs) and explore its influencing factors.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, the overall frequency of disasters around the world has been on the rise. As the emerging workforce in clinical settings, NGNs play an integral role in future disaster relief efforts. NGNs' level and influencing impact of core competencies in disaster nursing need to be understood.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional design.

METHODS

From June to September 2023, the Core Competencies in Disaster Nursing Scale - General Professional Nurse (CCDNS-GPN), designed according to the CCDN V2.0, was used to collect data from NGNs of six nursing schools and 15 hospitals in Guangdong, China. Descriptive analysis was conducted to examine the scores of core competencies in disaster nursing. Furthermore, one-way analysis of variance and multivariate linear regression analysis were used to explore the influencing factors.

RESULTS

A total of 607 NGNs participated in this study. The scores of CCDNS-GPN of NGNs were 90.23 (SD 15.09) (score ratio: 51.56%), indicating a low level of core competencies in disaster nursing. The highest competency was the recovery (score ratio: 55.00%), while the lowest competency was the communication (score ratio: 45.44%). The predictor for core competencies in disaster nursing of NGNs were male (β = 0.091, p < 0.05), below bachelor's degree (β = -0.109, p < 0.05), had received disaster nursing education at school (β = 0.087, p < 0.05), had participated in a disaster rescue drill at school (β = 0.140, p < 0.05), had been to the ICU during internship (β = 0.135, p < 0.05) and had the intention to be a disaster specialized nurse (β = 0.114, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The NGNs exhibited insufficient core competencies in disaster nursing in Guangdong, China. Nursing schools and clinical institutions should collaborate and play their respective roles to enhance nurses' core competencies in disaster nursing, ensuring they can timely, safely and efficiently participate in disaster medical relief efforts.

Experiences of Nurses Providing Care to Individuals in Earthquake-Affected Areas of Eastern Turkey: A Phenomenological Study

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to examine the experiences of nurses who provide care to individuals in earthquake-affected areas of eastern Turkey.

DESIGN

A phenomenological design from qualitative research methods was utilized in this study.

METHODS

The study was conducted between May 29, 2023, and August 15, 2023, with 11 nurses working in the western region of Turkey's provinces through one-on-one semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted online and recorded on video. Content analysis was performed using the MAXQDA software package.

FINDINGS

Themes and sub-themes were identified from the expressions of nurses in line with research findings. Accordingly, 5 themes were determined for nurses providing care to individuals in the earthquake. zone: "challenges they face,""emotions they felt,""coping methods,""knowledge and skills"and "effects of earthquake".

CONCLUSION

The results obtained from this study demonstrated that nurses experienced difficulties due to environmental (hygiene, cold weather, shelter) and work-related (lack of coordination, psychosocial issues) conditions during the earthquake event. While providing care to individuals in earthquake-affected areas of eastern Turkey, nurses reported feelings of sadness, inadequacy, anxiety, and fear. They employed coping methods such as talking to family/friends, attempting not to dwell on thoughts, and turning to religious practices to manage these negative emotions. Nurses emphasized the necessity of having professional knowledge and crisis management skills to care for individuals during the earthquake period. In accordance with the findings of the research, it is recommended that nurses are provided with realistic training through simulations and drills in disaster management, as well as psychological support interventions.

Nurses' challenges for disaster response: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Healthcare providers, particularly nurses, play a critical role in mitigating the impact of disasters on victims and the healthcare system. However, nurses face unique challenges in disasters that may not experience in their daily practice, which can make it harder for them to deal with disasters efficiently. This study aimed to investigate the challenges faced by nurses for disaster response.

METHODS

A qualitative content analysis approach was used in this study. Purposeful sampling was used to select 24 nurses working in the emergency departments of hospitals in Kerman, southeastern Iran. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using MAXQDA10. The conventional content analysis method proposed by Graneheim and Lundman was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The analysis of the findings resulted in one major category, insufficient ability of nurses to respond to disasters, and five subcategories: diverse nursing conditions during disasters, inappropriate interactive platform during disasters, the presence of obstacles to teamwork, lack of platform for nurses to acquire adequate disaster risk management competence, and moral tension in complex disaster situations.

CONCLUSIONS

Determining the challenges that nurses face during disasters is essential for improving disaster response efforts, promoting disaster preparedness, ensuring appropriate care for patients, and reducing emotional fatigue among nurses. Finally, nursing leaders, healthcare policymakers and governments should use these findings to better support the nursing workforce in disasters.

Development and Effect of a Simulation-Based Disaster Nursing Education Program for Nursing Students Using Standardized Patients

BACKGROUND

Disaster nursing deploys professional nursing knowledge and skills systematically to reduce disaster-related risks to life and health. Disaster nursing education requires providing simulations using standardized patients.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to develop, based on the International Council of Nurses' Framework of Disaster Nursing Competencies, a simulation-based disaster nursing education program for nursing students that employed standardized patients.

METHODS

A nonequivalent, control group, pretest-and-posttest design was used. Participants were senior nursing students from two universities, with 70 assigned to the experimental group, 35 assigned to the comparison group, and 35 assigned to the control group. Data were collected from January 25 to April 3, 2019. The simulation-based disaster nursing education program consisted of a 60-minute theoretical lecture on disaster management and two scenarios. The effectiveness of the simulation-based disaster nursing education program was measured using levels of disaster nursing competencies, disaster triage competency, disaster preparedness, critical thinking disposition, and confidence in disaster nursing.

RESULTS

Significant differences were found between the experimental and comparison/control groups in terms of disaster nursing competencies ( F = 20.06, p < .001), nursing triage ( F = 17.35, p < .001), disaster preparedness ( F = 60.37, p < .001), critical thinking disposition ( F = 19.63, p < .001), and confidence in disaster nursing ( F = 20.24, p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Simulation-based disaster nursing education programs using standardized patients can be useful in disaster nursing education. They can contribute to future changes in nursing education and practice by improving the disaster nursing capabilities and preparedness of students.

Factors affecting the development of clinical nurses' competency: A systematic review

AIM

To synthesize and analyze the literature on nursing clinical competence to assess the factors affecting nursing clinical competency.

BACKGROUND

Nursing competence affects not only patients but also nurses themselves. Competent nurses contribute to patient safety. Prioritizing clinical competency enables nurses to deliver high-quality care. Clinical nursing competency is influenced by various factors including education and training, experience, professional development, clinical judgment, decision-making skills and communication.

DESIGN

This was a systematic review.

METHODS

This study utilized an extensive literature search of online databases, including SCOPUS, Web of Science and PubMed. This review followed the guidelines provided by the Effective Practice and Organization of Care (EPOC) Cochrane Group and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement.

RESULTS

This systematic review provided 20 valuable articles, with a total of 6273 participants across the 20 studies, including 18 cross-sectional studies and two descriptive-correlational studies, predominantly using quantitative research methods. The analysis revealed several key factors that significantly affect nurses' clinical competency. These factors included years of experience, workplace environment, theoretical knowledge and educational level, marital status, clinical training, job satisfaction, turnover intention, job stress and critical thinking.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding and addressing these factors are crucial for enhancing nurses' clinical competence and ultimately improving patient outcomes. Further research and interventions should be directed towards promoting supportive work environments, continuous education and the development of critical thinking skills among nurses to optimize their clinical competencies.

Nurse Perceptions of Knowledge and Preparedness for Disasters

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed to determine the level of knowledge and perceptions of preparedness for disasters among nurses working in a tertiary university hospital.

METHOD

The population of this cross-sectional study consisted of nurses working in a university hospital in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey (n = 340). The sample included 183 nurses who were determined using the OpenEpi program and the universal sampling method. The data were collected using the Sociodemographic Information Form and the Disaster Preparedness Perception Scale in Nurses (DPPSN) and analyzed using SPSS 22 software.

RESULTS

The mean age of the participants was 34.31 + 8.52 years; 83.1% were female, 66.1% had at least a bachelor's degree and worked in a surgical ward, 49.7% had been working for at least 11 years, and 58.5% had received training on disasters. Those who received disaster-related training received it mostly face to face (70.1%) from their institutions (91.6%) and in the form of 2-4 hours of training (75.7%); 52.5% had previously participated in a disaster-related drill, and 83.1% took on the role of caregiver during a disaster. The DPPSN mean score of the nurses involved in the study was found to be 3.53 ± 0.58 out of 5 points for the total scale.

CONCLUSION

The results of the study showed that nurses considered themselves partially adequate for disaster preparedness, in general.

Determinants of nurses' readiness for disaster response: A cross-sectional study

Reducing the impacts of disasters is imperative in these times when disasters continually threaten people's lives. Given that the readiness for disaster response of nurses are essential in mitigating damage, however, studies on the determinants of nurses' readiness for disaster response remain inconclusive and require further research, especially with various populations. This study therefore aimed to investigate factors associated with readiness for disaster response among Taiwanese hospital nurses. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 365 eligible and registered nurses at a medical centre in northern Taiwan. The Readiness for Disaster Responses Scale including four subscales: personal preparedness, self-protection, emergency response, and clinical management were used for assessment. Analyses were performed using multiple linear regression models. Our study results showed that the length of nursing work was positively associated with nurses' readiness for disaster responses (β = 0.28, p < .001). Nurses with a master's degree and working in intensive care units or emergency rooms had higher readiness for disaster responses (β = 0.13, p = .032; β = 0.14, p = .024) than those with a bachelor's degree and working in other units/specialties (i.e., outpatient department, operating rooms, etc.). Furthermore, nurses with previous disaster training were associated with greater readiness for disaster responses (β = 0.24, p < .001). This study findings indicate that the identified determinants of hospital nurses' readiness for disaster responses can be taken into consideration in the future recruiting of nurses for deployment to disaster response assistance and the designing of disaster training programmes specifically for nurses.

Forensic Nursing competencies in disasters situations: scoping review

OBJECTIVE

To map sources of technical-scientific information on Forensic Nursing competencies in disasters situations.

METHOD

Scoping review developed in accordance with the JBI methodology, carried out in three stages by two reviewers independently on selected databases and gray literature, using keywords and descriptors. After reading them in full, we proceeded with data extraction and content analysis of 28 publications.

RESULTS

Identified 24 publications in English, 20 of which were produced in the United States of America. 24 competencies of forensic nurses in disasters situations were mapped, including: training; resource management; link with the justice service; direct care; psycho-emotional care; collection and preservation of traces; registration and documentation with photography; body management; maintenance of the chain of custody; and epidemiological surveillance.

CONCLUSION

The forensic nurse acts in all phases of disasters with the affected people, families and communities, under an interdisciplinary perspective. The development of competencies aimed at the practice of Forensic Nursing in disasters should be incorporated into the training strategies of these professionals, in order to obtain better response standards.

Tests on a scale for measuring the core competencies of paediatric specialist nurses: An exploratory quantitative study

AIM

This study aimed to develop a tool to measure paediatric specialist nurses' core competencies and examine the scale's validity and reliability.

DESIGN

An exploratory quantitative study.

METHODS

This study was performed in April 2022 with 302 paediatric specialist nurses in mainland China. Items were created through a literature review, a qualitative interview, and the Delphi method. The data were evaluated using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, explanatory factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and split-half reliability.

RESULTS

The final scale consisted of five factors and 32 items. The factors were communication, coordination and judgement abilities; professional technology mastery ability; specialist knowledge mastery ability; medical-related processes; and evidence-based nursing competencies. The explained total variance of the five factors was 62.216%. The scale-level and item-level CVI of this scale was 1.00, and the mean CVR of the total scale was 0.788. The Pearson correlation coefficients of each dimension and the total dimension of the scale was 0.709-0.892, and within each dimension, it was 0.435-0.651. The Cronbach's α of this scale was 0.944, and its split-half reliability was 0.883.

Validity and Reliability Study of the Turkish Adaptation of the Disaster Response Self- Efficacy Scale (DRSES)

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the 'Disaster Response Self-Efficacy Scale (DRSES).'

METHOD

This is a methodological study to validate the DRSES. Third and fourth grade nursing students participated in the study (n = 340). Construct validity was evaluated by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was assessed by internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Data were analyzed in SPSS 20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and IBM SPSS AMOS 21.0. (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).

RESULTS

The content validity was 0.96, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.94, and the intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was 0.95. The exploratory factor analysis revealed that 3 factors accounted for 59.4% of the explained variance. The factor loads ranged between 0.50 - 0.81. The construct validity was good (χ2/df = 2.54; RMSEA = 0.067; CFI = 0.93; NFI = 0.95; GFI = 0.93; TLI = 0.94; IFI = 0.92; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study show that the Disaster Response Self-Efficacy Scale is a valid and reliable tool that could be used to determine the nursing students' disaster response self-efficacy.

Nurses' competence levels in disaster nursing management in Turkey: A comparative cross-sectional study

AIM

This study aimed to determine nurses' views of their competence in disaster nursing management.

BACKGROUND

It is an important responsibility of nurses to have the necessary knowledge and skills for the management of disasters and to be prepared for disasters. For this responsibility to be effectively demonstrated, it is important to determine the disaster management competencies of the nurses.

METHODS

A descriptive, cross-sectional, and comparative research design was used in this study. The study population consisted of all nurses in Turkey (N = 227 292). According to the power analysis, the goal was to recruit 599 nurses working between March and April 2021 using a simple random sampling method. However, 530 nurses answered the questionnaire. The response rate is 88.5%. Data were collected online using a sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire and the Competencies for Disaster Nursing Management Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences at a significance level of 0.05.

RESULTS

There was a positive correlation between nurses' duties and responsibilities in disaster management, barriers to developing basic competencies, and nurses' basic competencies in disaster management (p < 0.001). Nurses have inadequate competencies in disaster management for various reasons. The study was reported with the STROBE checklist.

CONCLUSION

Although nurses think they have core competencies, they are not prepared for disasters for various reasons.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND NURSING POLICY

Hospitals should provide nurses with more duties and responsibilities regarding disaster management. Administrators should involve nurses in plans, decisions, and practices regarding disaster management. Decision-makers should develop policies and training programs to remove the barriers preventing nurses from acquiring competencies.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the trauma nurse core competency scale

Background

Trauma, especially severe trauma, has become a significant public health problem worldwide. This postulates higher requirements on the core competence of trauma nurses. However, limited scales exist to assess it validly and reliably. This study aims to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Trauma Nurse Core Competency Scale (TNCCS).

Methods

This study included three stages. First, scale development was based on a broad literature review and two rounds of Delphi expert consultation. Then, a pre-investigation was conducted with 106 trauma nurses, and a formal scale was formed. Finally, scale evaluation of reliability and validity, based on a cross-sectional study, was tested with 1,107 trauma nurses. Content validity and structure validity were used to evaluate the validity of TNCCS. The Cronbach's α coefficient and the split-half reliability coefficient were used to evaluate the reliability of TNCCS.

Results

The final scale contained 46 items under three dimensions, which were Knowledge and skills (21 items), Comprehensive literacy (20 items), and Professionalism & physical and mental health (5 items). The Content Validity Index (CVI) of the total scale was 0.980. The goodness-of-fit indices (χ²/df = 3.547, RMSEA = 0.065, GFI = 0.929, CFI = 0.912, NFI = 0.904, IFI = 0.929) signified a good fit for this model. The Construct Reliability (CR) ranged from 0.89 to 0.98, and the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) ranged from 0.62 to 0.69. The Cronbach's α coefficient of the scale was 0.99, ranging from 0.90 to 0.98 for the subscales. The split-half reliability coefficient was 0.84.

Conclusions

The TNCCS demonstrated good validity and reliability, and it could be used to assess the core competency of trauma nurses. The present study has valuable implications for nursing managers to take corresponding measures to train and improve the core competence of trauma nurses.

The relationship between disaster preparedness, psychological capital, and coping style among nurses: A cross-sectional study from China

PURPOSE

To find the relationship between psychological capital, coping style, and disaster preparedness in public hospital nurses.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study of 515 registered nurses from a public hospital in northeast Sichuan Province, China who were enrolled to complete self-reported questionnaires sent through the WeChat app.

RESULTS

Disaster preparedness and psychology capital (r = 0.73, p < 0.01), disaster preparedness and coping style (r = 0.55, p < 0.01), and psychological capital and coping style (r = 0.56, p < 0.01) were positively correlated. Psychological capital (B = 1.81, p < 0.01) and coping style (B = 0.87, p < 0.01) accounted for 50% of disaster preparedness. Coping style partly mediated the effect of psychological capital on disaster preparedness (ab: 0.33, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.21-0.45).

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

The level of psychological capital of nurses can provide an objective reference for administrators to establish intervention strategies and to promote positive psychological resources among nurses.

Disaster nursing and disaster preparedness: an investigation of nursing students' knowledge, competence and attitudes

BACKGROUND

Any country is at risk of disasters associated with natural, biological, technological and societal hazards. Such disasters pose ever greater challenges for healthcare systems. Nurses and nursing students have a crucial role in responding dynamically to disasters in their communities.

AIM

To investigate nursing students' knowledge of and self-perceived competence in disaster nursing and attitudes towards disaster preparedness.

METHOD

A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to investigate knowledge, competence and attitudes in a convenience sample of 300 nursing students in their third and fourth years at a nursing college in Saudi Arabia. Students were asked to complete an online questionnaire on disaster nursing and disaster preparedness. A 96% response rate was obtained.

RESULTS

Most participating students had a favourable attitude towards disaster preparedness. They also perceived themselves as having a relatively high degree of competence in disaster nursing. However, most participants had inadequate knowledge of disaster nursing and may not have been fully aware of their role in disaster relief operations.

CONCLUSION

Enhancing nursing students' awareness of the importance of disaster preparedness and competence in disaster nursing can potentially save lives. Disaster nursing and disaster preparedness should be part of undergraduate nurse education curricula and nurse educators should develop innovative educational interventions on these topics.

A Study on the Impact of Sustainable Leadership and Core Competencies on Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Information Technology (IT) Sector

The study is focused on assessing the impact of sustainable leadership and core competencies on sustainable competitive advantage in the information technology sector. The data are sourced from primary and secondary data. The primary data are sourced from IT sector employees. The secondary information is sourced from earlier publications related to sustainable leadership, sustainable competitive advantage, and core competencies. The primary data were collected through the field survey method, although some were collected via an online mode. The sample size was 297. The study used a simple stratified random sampling technique. The study results described a significant effect of sustainable leadership on sustainable competitive advantage. Sustainable leadership improves the prospects of associations in terms of their creation, constant advancement, sustained competitive edge, and long-term success. Sustainable leadership is a wellspring of gaining the upper hand for associations. Sustainable leadership benefits associations, development, consistent improvement, a supported upper hand, and long haul achievement. The study also found that the core competencies significantly influence the competitive advantage. The discoveries of the current study have significant ramifications for customers, top administration, and policymakers. The practitioners of IT companies are urged to cultivate an inventive and open correspondence climate in their associations dependent on existing logical discoveries. Likewise, they could utilize the current outcomes as a benchmark for gradually expanding their qualities and limits, which may prompt better natural productivity.

The Effect of Knowledge and Skills of Hospital Staff on the Hospitals’ Alertness and Security in Encountering Earthquake in Palu City, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

INTRODUCTION: Indonesia is one country that particularly experiences disasters, especially natural disasters. AIM: The current research was carried out aiming to determine the effect of knowledge and skills of hospitals staff on the hospital alertness and security in encountering earthquake. METHODS: This study applied an analytical survey method involving 184 health workers from three major hospitals in Palu City, Indonesia. In this case, data were collected through interviews and questionnaires which were then analyzed using the t-test and f-test to determine the partial and simultaneous effect of the independent on the dependent variable. RESULTS: Based on the analysis of the data collected from 184 questionnaires involving voluntary, contracted, and civil servant health workers, it was revealed that the knowledge of health workers significantly affected the effectiveness of preparedness and security for hospitals in encountering multiple disasters in Palu City with p < 0.01 and T value of 3.467 > T table value 2.60326. Meanwhile, the health workers’ skills on the effectiveness of preparedness and security in hospitals facing multiple disasters in Palu City obtained p < 0.00 and a T value of 4.771 > T table value 2.60326. Meanwhile, the effect of knowledge and skills of health workers simultaneously and significantly affected the effectiveness of preparedness and security of the hospitals in encountering multiple disasters with an F value of 47.459 > F table value 3.89. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed in the current research provided useful basic information indicating the need for regular disaster-related education and training programs for emergency health workers so that they can effectively handle disaster situations and carry out their duties confidently and professionally. Such training and education are aimed to improving the health workers’ knowledge and skills so that they can be more alert and prepared when disaster occurs.

Do Contextual and Demographic Factors Help Malaysian Nurses Prepare in Dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic?

As of 11 October 2020, Sabah comprised a quarter of all COVID19 cases reported in Malaysia since the start of the pandemic last January 2020. In this pandemic, nurses serve in vital roles to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. This study aims to explore the nurses’ preparedness in managing the COVID-19 outbreak situation in Sabah, Malaysia, examining the contextual (e.g., participated in an actual major disaster event) and demographic factors (e.g., age and working experience that may influence nurses’ preparedness for managing the COVID-19 pandemic). A total of 317 nurses in Sabah, Malaysia were involved in this study. The Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ) contained 41 items and was used to assess civilian nurses’ perceived familiarity with 9 competency dimensions of preparedness. The mean scores of nurses’ preparedness indicated a moderate level of nurses’ preparedness in managing the COVID-19 pandemic (mean ranging from 2.89 to 3.79). The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the nurses who actively participate in an actual major disaster event and who were not active in a total of preparedness and all dimensions (t = 2.79, df = 285, p = 0.006) (except in familiarity with decontamination and familiarity with special populations), across working experience (F(2,291) = 5.09, p = 0.007) (except familiarity with Incident Command System and role), and age among nurses ((F(3,290) = 2.68, p = 0.047)) (total of preparedness, familiarity with ethical issues in triage, epidemiology, and surveillance, and psychological issues). Overall, this study has made a significant theoretical contribution, as well as in clinical implications in the field of nursing practice, by addressing the impact of contextual and demographic factors on nurses’ preparedness in managing the COVID-19 outbreak situation. This study will help nurses to understand the skills, abilities, knowledge, and actions needed to respond, mitigate, and prepare for emergencies during pandemics and disasters.

The Effect of Immersive Training on Emergency Preparedness for Interdisciplinary College Students: A Single Group Pretest, Posttest

OBJECTIVE

Current standard practice for disaster response training is insufficient to prepare future responders. Interdisciplinary immersive education is necessary for disaster responders to react quickly to the devastating destruction, dangerous situations, and ethical dilemmas, while caring for survivors, families, and communities with limited resources. This study tests the effects of immersive emergency preparedness education on interdisciplinary college students.

METHODS

Thirty-four college students attended a 3-day immersive disaster training event. Interdisciplinary teams were given 6 challenges to adapt and overcome: mass casualty; field hospital triage, treatment, and transportation; water rescue; high building rescue; search and rescue; and a water treatment. A pretest and posttest survey, Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ), was administered to all participants.

RESULTS

Statistically significant improvements in triage, biological agent detection, assessing critical resources, incident command, psychological issues, clinical decision making, and communication (range of P = 0.000-0.003). Improvement in clinical significance resulted in a change from limited knowledge to familiarity with the subject in all cases except isolation, quarantine, and decontamination.

CONCLUSIONS

Preparation and training of health care professionals need to include immersive disaster scenarios that create the experience of fatigue, psychological challenges, and physical stresses.

Self-Efficacy and Emergency Preparedness in Indonesia

Purpose: Indonesia had the highest death toll in the world due to earthquakes and tsunami. In recent years, Indonesia has changed its disaster management strategy, from emergency response and preparedness to disaster management preparedness. This study aims to analyze the relationship of self-efficacy with the preparedness of nurses, IEDNA members, in dealing with natural disasters in Indonesia. Methods: This study is an analytical observational study with a cross-sectional approach. The study population is a member of the Indonesian Emergency and Disaster Nurses Association (IEDNA). The sample was 107 nurses that sampled using random cluster sampling. The data were analyzed using Fisher's test with a significance level of 95%. Results: Out of 510, 107 nurses became respondents in the study. The gender of the majority of respondents was male (56.1%). As many as 46.7% of respondents were dominated by respondents aged 31-40 years, 34.6% of respondents worked in the Emergency Department. Most respondents (41.1%) had less than one year of experience as emergency nurses. The result of self-efficacy test was p-value = 0.001 (p < 0.05). The majority of emergency nurses (94%) in Indonesia have good self-efficacy in dealing with disasters, although some do not have experience in disaster management. This is because the emergency nurses in Indonesia are often attended disaster management training. Conclusion: This study concludes that the preparedness phase was good and there was a significant relationship between self-efficacy and nurse preparedness in facing the disasters.

Nurses' disaster core competencies and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study from Turkey

AIM

Determining nurses' disaster core competency levels, comparing them based on characteristics, and examining the relationships with psychological resilience.

BACKGROUND

Since nurses constitute a critical part in the healthcare services, it is important to understand the competencies and effective factors in their disaster preparedness.

METHOD

The data were collected from 489 nurses between January and February 2021 with an introductory information form, Nurses' Perceptions of Disaster Core Competencies Scale, and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale.

RESULTS

Nurses' level of disaster core competencies was above the average, and it is positively correlated with their psychological resilience. Nurses' disaster experiences made higher significant differences on their disaster core competencies rather than their personal and professional characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

It is important to provide disaster training and drills to all nurses on a regular basis. However, under disaster conditions, resilience should also be taken into account and included in the preparation plans for nurses to apply their professional competencies and qualifications. Implications for nursing management Nurse managers should play a leadership role in planning disaster preparedness training for nurses, and these trainings should be addressed to cover both professional competencies and resilience for nurses to respond effectively to disasters.

Disaster preparedness and core competencies among emergency nurses: A cross-sectional study

Aim

With the rise in frequency and severity of disasters in recent decades, it is essentially important that nurses must be adequately prepared to handle them. This study was aimed to evaluate the levels of disaster core competencies and preparedness of nurses in the emergency department.

Design

A cross‐sectional survey design was used.

Methods

This cross‐sectional research was conducted from August 2020 to December 2020 among 271 nurses in the emergency departments of six hospitals in Qazvin, Iran. The participants completed the “Nurses Perceptions of Disaster Core Competencies Scale” (NPDCC) (45 items) and the disaster preparedness (a single‐item visual scale). Data were analysed by one‐way analysis of variance, independent t‐tests and multiple linear regression analysis.

Results

The mean scores of disaster preparedness and core competencies of nurses were 6.75 out of 10 (SD = 1.63) and 2.88 out of 5 (SD = 0.80), respectively. "Technical skills" (mean = 3.24, SD = 0.91) were the highest and "communication skills" (mean = 2.57, SD = 0.95) were the lowest across the subscales of the scale. A significant association was found between disaster core competencies and preparedness of nurses (p < .001). Regression analysis results indicated that nursing disaster core competencies were perceived betted by older nurses (B = −0.405) who had experience in the disaster stage (B = 0.228) and nurses with disaster response experience (B = 0.223) and lower professional experience (B = 0.309). Nurses with a postdiploma degree (B = −0.480) and bachelor's degree (B = −0.416) were perceived to have lower disaster core competency than nurses with a master's or PhD degree.

Conclusion

There are still gaps in disaster preparedness and core competencies for emergency nurses that need to be addressed. Nursing managers must support an improvement in nursing disaster core competencies. This may be done by conducting sessions for routine disaster scenarios and providing formal disaster preparedness training.

The Impact of Islamic-Based Disaster Response Competencies Program on Nurses: A Computer-based Training Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction:

Disasters have a significant impact on physical, psychological, psychosocial, and spiritual conditions. Indonesia, a predominately Muslim country, is a country of high vulnerability and risk for disasters. The nurses are frontliners and care providers need sufficient competencies in handling the survivors in health service centers. Local government regulations in the Aceh Province required Islamic-based health services.

Objective:

The study aims to identify the effectiveness of the Islamic-based disaster response competencies on nurses at the Banda Aceh Hospitals.

Methods:

A randomized controlled trial with a pre- and post-tests with a control group design was used in this study. The population was all nurses at three hospitals in four wards: emergency department, intensive care, medical, and surgical wards. The samples were selected using cluster random sampling and assigned into three groups: evidence = 50, Islamic = 49, and control = 48. Data were analyzed using parametric and non-parametric tests.

Results:

The results showed a significant increase in nurses’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes of disaster response in the evidence and Islamic groups with the mean and SD of the Islamic group in post-test 1 and 2 (knowledge = 15.9±2.9 and 15.8±2.9, skills = 19.0±1.4 and 18.9±1.4, attitude = 108.1±6.9 and 108.2±6.9) were higher than the evidence group (knowledge = 15.6±2.7 and 15.5±2.7, skills = 18.7±1.5 and 18.8±1.5, attitudes = 107.5±7.4 and 107.4±7.3) and the control group (knowledge=13.8±4.0 and 13.9±4.0, skills = 17.9±1.9 and 17.9±1.9, attitude = 104.5±8.8 and 104.6±8.8), respectively.

Conclusion:

The results indicate the Islamic group is more effective in increasing the disaster response competencies of nurses. This finding suggests the importance of developing regulations including policies, guidelines, emergency and disaster training, and public health services to support the implementation of an appropriate Islamic-based disaster nursing responses for hospitals in the Aceh Province and other regions with the implementation of Islamic law. Request number ANZCTR 378930

Factors affecting nurses' ability to provide effective care in a disaster response: a review

Disasters cause death, trauma, and psychological distress. Comprising the largest number of healthcare workers, nurses play a crucial role in reducing the impact of a disaster. The objective of this review is to identify the factors that influence nurses’ ability during a disaster emergency response to provide adequate care. This research was conducted by doing a literature search from the Pro-Quest and Science-Direct databases using the PRISMA-ScR to screen the articles. The final results included 13 articles. An analysis was performed to identify themes in line with the purpose of the review. All factors affecting nurses’ ability to respond to a disaster situation were classified into three themes: 1) factors increasing nurses’ ability, 2) barriers to delivering effective nursing care, and 3) support needed to maintain the nurses’ ability. During an emergency situation due to a disaster, adequate knowledge and skill to save lives, treat injuries, manage stress and coordinate between teams are the basic competencies needed for optimal care. Nurses’ clinical experience or previous disaster experience and training could increase nurses’ adaptability in disaster conditions. Support from nurses’ workplace and proper implementation of disaster management policy enhance nurses’ services and prevent barrier under disaster condition. The results emphasize that future training should aim for improving nurses’ knowledge and skills, including the knowledge of nurses’ family to protect themselves and deal with disasters. Such knowledge increased family preparedness, which is an important factor to enhance nurses’ willingness to work following a disaster.

Predictors for psychological distress of young burn survivors across three years: A cohort study of a burn disaster in Taiwan

Purpose

The study aims to investigate long‐term psychological distress and its risk factors in the burn survivors.

Design

A longitudinal study with follow‐up interviews was conducted from November 2015–June 2018. A post‐burn baseline interview was conducted 6 months after the event, followed by annual surveys for three years.

Methods

The burn survivors received structured assessment through telephone in the four‐wave interviews, including the five‐item Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS‐5); two‐item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐2); four‐item Startle, Physiological Arousal, Anger, and Numbness Scale (SPAN‐4); and six‐item Impact of Event Scale (IES‐6) alongside demographic data and other health‐related assessment.

Findings

A total of 180 respondents with the mean age of 23 years old completed the four waves of interview. Using the BSRS‐5 as the outcome, each variable had different input in psychological distress during the follow‐up years. The main finding was that the SPAN‐4 score could predict more than 62% of psychological distress between 6 months and 3 years after the disaster. The generalized estimating equation demonstrated that SPAN‐4, IES‐6, family functioning impairment, hypnotics use, adaptation to the event, and PHQ‐2 could predict psychological distress. However, the variable of follow‐up year did not exemplify significant estimation in the model.

Conclusions

The results indicated that different factors had various influences on psychological distress across the four follow‐up stages. PTSD‐like symptoms, depression, and anxiety were the most common psychological problems experienced by the young burn cohort in the longitudinal post‐traumatic period.

Clinical relevance

Healthcare providers should be aware of psychological consequences of traumatic events within up to a 3‐year post‐burn period, particularly post‐traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety symptoms.

Development, reliability and validity of infectious disease specialist Nurse's Core competence scale

Aim

This study aims to develop an instrument to measure infectious disease specialist nurses’ core competence and examining the scale’s validity and reliability.

Background

With the increase of infectious diseases, more and more attention has been paid to infectious disease nursing care. The core competence of the infectious disease specialist nurses is directly related to the quality of nursing work. In previous researches, infectious disease specialist nurses’ core competence was measured by the tools developed for general nurses instead of specialized tools, which made it difficult to clarify the core competence of nurses in infectious diseases department.

Methods

Preliminary items were developed through literature review, theoretical research, qualitative interview and Delphi method. The confirmed 47 items were applied in the two rounds of data collection. Evaluation data on 516 infectious disease specialist nurses’ core competence in the first round were utilized to preliminarily evaluate and explore the scale’s constrution, while evaluation data on 497 infectious disease specialist nurses’ core competence in the second round were utilized to do reliability analysis and validity analysis. In this study, factor analysis, Cronbach’s α, Pearson correlation coefficients were all adopted.

Results

The final scale is composed of 34 items and 5 factors, and adopted the 5-point scoring method. The factors are Professional Development Abilities, Infection Prevention and Control Abilities, Nursing Abilities for Infectious Diseases, Professionalism and Humanistic Accomplishment, and Responsiveness to Emergency Infectious Diseases. The explanatory variance of the five factors was 75.569%. The reliability and validity of the scale is well validated. The internal consistency, split-half reliability and test-retest reliability were 0.806, 0.966 and 0.831 respectively. The scale has good structural validity and content validity. The content validity was 0.869. Discrimination analysis showed that there were significant differences in the scores of core competence and its five dimensions among infectious disease specialist nurses of different ages, working years in infectious diseases, titles, educational background, marital status and wages (all P < 0.05).

Conclusions

The proposed scale takes on high reliability and validity, and is suitable for assessing the infectious disease specialist nurses’ core competence.

Relevance to clinical practice

This scale provides a reference for clinical assessment of infectious disease nursing.

Factors influencing emergency medical competencies of health centers and fire stations in areas that are vulnerable to earthquakes

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the emergency medical competency (EMC), perceived by the fire station and health center staff, in the areas where of emergency medical vulnerability where earthquakes had occurred.

Methods

This study was conducted between December 2019 and February 2020. A proper questionnaire was created to evaluate EMC in disaster situations and administered to the fire station and the health center groups. Descriptive variables of each group were calculated. The Kendall rank correlation analysis was used to measure the relationships between the demographic variables, disaster-related variables, and EMC. The factors influencing the EMC for both groups were investigated in the linear regression analysis.

Results

For a total of 200 respondents, the mean scores of EMC were 99.85±21.24 and 95.24±20.05 for the fire station (n=96) and the health center (n=104) groups, respectively (P=0.121). EMC was significantly correlated with age, years of service, job position, natural disaster experience, disaster relief service experience, and joint disaster response exercise (P<0.050). Linear regression analysis revealed that the duration of joint disaster response exercise (β=0.640, t=11.696) in Model 1 (F=136.806, P<0.001), the duration of joint disaster response exercise (β=0.627, P<0.001), and disaster rescue service experience (β=0.124, P<0.001) in Model 2 (F=72.431, P<0.001) were independently associated with EMC improvement.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate that the disaster preparedness program with a longer duration of joint disaster response exercise and more frequent disaster rescue service experience is necessary for improved and systematic response to a disaster.

Does theme game-based teaching promote better learning about disaster nursing than scenario simulation: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

With the development of information technology, game-based teaching has continuously attracted the attention of nursing educators. It has been proven that games, as an auxiliary tool of traditional teaching, can improve students' learning motivation and learning effects. However, compared with the traditional scenario simulation teaching, whether game-based teaching has obvious advantages is still unknown.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to explore whether theme game-based teaching is more effective than scenario simulation in improving students' disaster nursing competency.

DESIGN

A randomized controlled trial.

SETTING

The study was conducted at a provincial vocational college in Xiaogan, Hubei, China.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 104 sophomore nursing students (intervention group = 51, control group = 53) participated.

METHODS

After the participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group or control group, disaster-themed games were used in the intervention group, while multi-station disaster simulation was applied in the control group. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to assess the participants' disaster nursing competence using the Questionnaire of Disaster Rescue Ability.

RESULTS

After the intervention, disaster nursing competence levels were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (4.04 ± 0.43 vs. 3.77 ± 0.45, P = 0.002). Three domains of disaster nursing competence, cognition (4.05 ± 0.56 vs. 3.75 ± 0.48, P = 0.004), skill (3.88 ± 0.50 vs. 3.62 ± 0.53, p = 0.008) and affective response (4.25 ± 0.42 vs. 4.02 ± 0.48, P = 0.010), were also significantly higher in the intervention group.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with scenario simulation, theme game-based teaching is more effective in improving the disaster nursing competence of nursing students.

Adaptation of the Competencies for Disaster Nursing Management Questionnaire: Turkish Version

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to carry out the validity and reliability study for the adaptation of the Competencies for Disaster Nursing Management Questionnaire (CDNMQ), which was developed by Al Thobaity and others in 2016, (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26778698/) to Turkish, and to be able to use in the nursing literature.

METHOD

This study was conducted in a methodological approach. The scale used in this study was a 10-point Likert scale with 43 items and 3 subfactors. The questionnaire was applied to 450 nurses. The validity and reliability of the scale were evaluated using the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The content validity index was measured within the scope of the internal consistency measurements, and the Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient was examined for the test-retest.

RESULTS

The content validity index score was found to be 0.98. As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis of the CDNMQ, it was found that the 3-factor structure of the scale was valid and the goodness of fit tests was appropriate.

CONCLUSION

The findings have shown that the CDNMQ study is similar to the original scale and an adequate measurement tool in determining competencies in disaster nursing management.

Emergency Response: A Cross-sectional Study of Core Competencies for Nurses Regarding Major Infectious Disease Outbreaks

INTRODUCTION

The core competencies of nursing personnel have been identified as a main factor affecting nursing effectiveness. This study examined core emergency response competencies of Chinese nursing personnel related to the outbreak of major infectious diseases.

METHODS

A survey was conducted among 960 nurses working in a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, China. Data were collected on core emergency response competencies of nursing personnel caring for patients with major infectious diseases, measuring overall competency as well as by dimensions of prevention ability, rescue ability, and preparation ability. A t-test and one-way analysis of variance were first analyzed for differences between groups, followed by multiple linear regression to analyze main influencing factors for core emergency response competencies.

RESULTS

The average score for core emergency response competencies of nursing personnel delivering care to patients with major infectious diseases was 128.05 (SD 22.23) (range 36-180 points); or 71%, which is equivalent to moderate performance. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that the main influencing factors for these nursing personnel were before participation in emergency drills for infectious diseases, current educational background, and working experience in the realm of infectious disease nursing. The final model explained 8.4% of the variance in core emergency response competencies.

DISCUSSION

These findings indicate that it is necessary to strengthen the training of nursing staff with educational background deficits or no prior work or drill experience related to infectious diseases to effectively improve the core emergency response competencies of nursing personnel relative to infectious diseases.

Development and psychometric testing of a Learning Behaviour Questionnaire among Chinese undergraduate nursing students

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to develop and validate a new Learning Behaviour Questionnaire (LBQ) for the undergraduate nursing students.

STUDY DESIGN

This study was performed in two phases. Phase 1 of the study focused on questionnaire development to create a pool of items, while phase 2 focused on validity and reliability testing.

METHODS

Semistructured interviews were used to explore nursing undergraduates' perception of learning behaviour. A two-round modified Delphi method was used to test content validity and quantify the degree of consistency in questionnaire items. An item analysis, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and an internal consistency reliability check were conducted. Criterion-related validity was demonstrated through correlations with Self-Regulated Learning Scale for Undergraduates (SRLS-U). A sample of 114 nursing students was evaluated in test-retest reliability to confirm stability.

RESULTS

The final LBQ consisted of four factors for the 19-item questionnaire with a 5-point rating from '1' (Fully disagree) to '5' (fully agree). The content validity was 0.890. EFA revealed the presence of four factors, including 'strategy', 'attitude', 'motivation' and 'degree of satisfaction'. The CFA indicated good fit indexes for the proposed model (χ²/df=1.866, root mean square residual=0.037, comparative fit index =0.950, goodness-of-fit index =0.929, Tucker-Lewis index=0.941, adjusted goodness-of-fit index=0.907 and root mean square error of approximation=0.049). The LBQ correlated significantly with SRLS-U subscales (r=0.742-0.837, p<0.01). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the whole questionnaire was 0.936, while the Cronbach's alphas of the four factors were 0.828, 0.826, 0.804 and 0.805, respectively. The test-retest reliabilities of the four factors were 0.886, 0.904, 0.852 and 0.875, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The validity and reliability of the LBQ were satisfying. The LBQ is a short, well-developed questionnaire that can serve as a generic assessment tool for measuring learning behaviour for Chinese undergraduate nursing students.Cite Now.

Nurses' core disaster-response competencies for combating COVID-19-A cross-sectional study

The core competencies in disaster nursing, nurses’ roles in disaster management and the potential barriers are assessed with a view to developing disaster nursing in Slovenia. Despite training and experience, many indicators show nurses are deficient in skills involving emergency and disaster-preparedness competencies. Nurses report little familiarity with disaster-planning skills, the implementation of disaster guidelines and assessment of patients subject to a disaster circumstance. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted based on data collected through an online survey. 118 registered nurses from different clinical settings in Slovenia participated in the study. Data were collected according to the Slovenian version of the Disaster Nursing Core Competencies Scale (Sl-DNCC-Scale). The scale was limited to a 7-point Likert response format (from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). The results show the registered nurses perceive the core competencies of disaster nursing to be important to their preparedness for disaster situations (median = 161; range 74–189). Registered nurses who work in nursing homes and nurse managers are more aware of the importance of acquiring the listed competencies for unexpected events (p = 0.011 and 0.060 respectively) and the importance of their active role in disaster management (p = 0.027 and p = 0.004, respectively). To effectively deal with a disaster, nurses must be well prepared for unexpected events and more actively involved in disaster management. This study demonstrates that nurses regard the core disaster nursing competencies as important and greatly needed in various healthcare facilities. Future studies in this area should focus on ways to implement these competencies in nursing education.

Knowledge of mitigation and attitude of preparedness of vocational health programs students in Jakarta in facing earthquake disasters

Knowledge of earthquake disaster mitigation is part of the preparedness efforts that all communities need, including students of vocational health The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between knowledge of mitigation and attitudes toward disaster preparedness for students in Jakarta. The design of this study was cross-sectional study design with a sample size of 107 regular students from four departments at the Jakarta Ministry of Health Polytechnic I. The average age of the study sample was 19.94 years and most of them were women, who had never attended lecture material and seminars/training related to disasters. This research showed that there was a meaningful relationship between knowledge of mitigation and preparedness in facing earthquake (p=0.01; α=0.05). The results of this study recommend the importance of instilling awareness of mitigation to improve earthquake preparedness.

Identify the Disaster Nursing Training and Education Needs for Nurses in Taif City, Saudi Arabia

Introduction

Nursing is considered the healthcare profession with the most members. Emergency nurses constitute the first line of treatment in healthcare facilities when catastrophic events bring disaster victims in need of medical attention. Therefore, these nurses must be well educated and trained efficiently to be able to deal with disastrous situations properly. This study aimed to distinguish the most important elements of education and training for preparing emergency nurses to face disasters in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), specifically, the city of Taif.

Methods

This study employed a tool to measure nurses’ most important training and education needs that was created by the authors based on a literature review and was approved by an expert panel in disaster nursing. Questionnaires were distributed to emergency nurses in four hospitals run by the Ministry of Health in Taif city. Survey responses were received from 210 participants, and the data were analyzed using a principal component analysis (PCA). A one-way ANOVA was used to determine the differences between groups according to their experiences.

Results

The following three factors were extracted from the data after redundant items were loaded and excluded: incident management systems (IMSs), disaster triage, and disaster drills. Nurses with less than three years of experience have a significant need to learn about these elements in order to be able to cope with disasters.

Conclusion

Understanding different types of disasters and how to deal with these catastrophic events is crucial. Significant differences existed between ED nurses in their understanding of the basic elements of disaster management based on their level of experience in an ED. Therefore, disaster education must be included in nursing curricula, and more training courses, mock drills, and simulations must be conducted in hospitals for nurses, especially nurses with less experience, so they can learn to manage their responsibilities during disasters.

Safe intra-hospital care in context of vulnerability to socio-environmental disasters: implications for nursing

OBJECTIVES

to analyze the factors involved in safe intra-hospital care, in a context of vulnerability to socio-environmental disasters and their implications for nursing.

METHODS

a cross-sectional study of a descriptive and exploratory nature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 49 nursing professionals from a hospital in the mountainous region of the state of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), which suffered a significant impact from a socio-environmental disaster in January 2011. Data were processed by software IRaMuTeQ.

RESULTS

aspects related to disaster assistance were presented through a thematic chunk with four classes, through descending hierarchical classification.

CONCLUSIONS

for better nursing response in socio-environmental disasters, in an intra-hospital setting, investments for training and continuing education should be prioritized; adequate provision and provision of human, material and technological resources; psychological support for professionals after such events; appropriation of nursing competencies for the development of advanced practices in disasters and effective risk management.

Relationship Between Nurses' Decision-Making Style and Their Disaster Response Competencies

Nurses are the first respondents to the critical situations and therefore must be able to effectively manage the critical situations using their competencies. Given that the decision-making style under the stressful critical situations is an important component of the care process in these situations, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between decision-making style and nurses' disaster response competencies.This descriptive, analytical study was conducted in Shahr-e Kord city in 2018. A total of 300 nurses were selected from Ayatollah Kashani and Hajar hospitals by multistage sampling and from the Emergency Medical Services Center by the census method. Data were collected using the Disaster Nursing Competence Assessment and the decision-making style questionnaires and analyzed with SPSS 21 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY).Most of the nurses used the intuitive decision-making style and the total score of disaster nursing competencies was 162.58 ± 22.70. Pearson's correlation coefficient indicated that there was a positive relation between decision-making style and nurses' disaster response competencies.The results show that decision-making style affects nurses' competencies for disaster response and provides evidence for the development of educational policies in disaster nursing education.

Disaster Nursing: Taking Your Faith to the Field

National and global disasters require immense resources, including nurses. Personal, professional, and spiritual preparation is strongly recommended for healthcare workers who desire to serve in disaster settings. Most nurses are underprepared for this role; options for preparation are described along with the ministry of nursing and spiritual care that expresses God's heart of mercy and care for hurting and desperate people.

Does Tabletop Exercise Enhance Knowledge and Attitude in Preparing Disaster Drills?

Background: Tabletop Exercise (TTE) is a specific learning method through a simulation designed to test the competency and the ability of a group to respond to disasters. Using the map of disaster events is considered effective to prepare disaster drills rather than other methods. TTE method has been carried out annually to train the students, however no studies reported the effect of this method.Purpose: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of TTE on enhancing nursing students’ knowledge and attitude in a disaster drill. Methods: This study was conducted with one-group pre and post-test of a quasi-experimental design. The total samplings were 80 nursing students of the fourth year who undertook the disaster nursing course. The intervention of the study was started using the scenario of an earthquake disaster simulation using TTE media divided into four groups. The instruments consisted of two questionnaires: Students’ Knowledge on Tabletop Exercise (SKTE), and Students' Attitude on Tabletop Exercise (SATE) which were tested for their validity and reliability. The data were analyzed using a dependent paired t-test. Results: The study showed that TTE had a positive effect in enhancing the knowledge (p=0.001) and the attitude of nursing students in disaster drills (p=0.001) (df=79). Conclusion: TTE intervention was an effective direct learning method to improve students’ competencies in disaster response. TTE might be considered as a learning method in improving students' competencies in preparing disaster drills.

The effect of the disaster management training program among nursing students

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the effect of the Jennings Disaster Nursing Management Model-based and learning management system-assisted six-module training programme on nursing students' disaster preparedness perceptions and response self-efficacy.

DESIGN AND SAMPLE

This randomized controlled trial used a two group comparison design, experimental group (n = 127), and control group (n = 108), carried out with third-year nursing students in a city in the west of Turkey.

MEASURES

Data included a socio-demographic form, the Disaster Preparedness Perception Scale in Nurses (DPPSN) and the Disaster Response Self-Efficacy Scale (DRSES).

RESULTS

After the training, disaster preparedness perceptions and the response self-efficacy of the EG increased significantly (p < .05). This study had a moderate effect on participants' knowledge and self-efficacy.

CONCLUSION

Public health nurses are health professionals with important roles and responsibilities in the stages of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery that is all stages of disaster management. This theoretical-based program can be considered for both students and nursing professionals.

Factors associated with core competencies of emergency-room nurses in tertiary hospitals in China

AIM

Quantitative studies using validated questionnaires on core competencies of emergency nurses in China are rare and the baseline core competencies must first be evaluated before improvizations to the competencies can be implemented. This study aimed to investigate the factors potentially involved in the level of core competencies of emergency nurses from tertiary hospitals in northwest China.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, male and female emergency nurses (n = 277) from tertiary hospitals of northwest China were enrolled to complete the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses (CIRN) questionnaire comprising of a total of seven dimensions with 58 items. General self-efficacy and perceived stress were also evaluated. Pearson correlation test and multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis were performed to assess the association between various factors associated with core competencies.

RESULTS

Senior nurses had higher CIRN scores than junior nurses (p < .001). Married and widowed nurses had higher CIRN scores than unmarried and divorced nurses (p = .008). Nurses satisfied with their career had better CIRN scores than those who were dissatisfied (p < .001). CIRN scores were correlated with age (r = .356, p < .001), working years (r = .374, p < .001), and the general self-efficacy scale (r = .547, p < .001). Multivariable stepwise linear regression analysis showed that higher professional titles and job satisfaction were independently associated with higher CIRN scores (both p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Emergency nurses from tertiary hospitals of northwest China with senior titles and job satisfaction had high CIRN scores which necessitates empowering the junior nurses by way of education and training programs to gain higher core competencies in order to deliver better nursing care to patients.

Using tabletop exercises to evaluate nurses' clinical performance of hazardous materials disaster management: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Hazardous materials (Hazmat) disaster is a specific event with low probability but may be a heavy burden on public health. Competence in Hazmat disaster emergency management is necessary for nurses who care about mass casualties in the first line, especially for nurses in military hospitals. However, less attention has been paid to evaluation of competence of Hazmat disaster emergency responses using tabletop exercises.

OBJECTIVE

To identify competence in Hazmat disaster emergency response and factors influencing performance on tabletop exercises.

METHODS

A cross-sectional design was employed in this study. Competence of nurses responding to a hazardous materials invasion was evaluated by a tabletop exercise. In each case the "Task Based Checklist" was used for evaluation. Multivariate analysis of covariance was conducted to detect the effects of traditional training on performance in Hazmat disaster tabletop exercises.

RESULTS

A total of 161 nurses were recruited for this study. A checklist with 12 items comprised of two dimensions of disaster management was created and validated (CVI = 0.90). Inter-rater reliability for the evaluators ranged from 0.88 to 1. Performance on Hazmat site control, debris management and individual skills in decontamination were found to be suboptimal. Traditional disaster nursing training had no significant influence either on performance on Hazmat site control or patient care after controlling for differences in education level, age and gender.

CONCLUSIONS

The tabletop exercise is an innovative method for disaster nursing educators seeking to evaluate response competence in Hazmat disaster simulation exercises. It is necessary to consider the characteristics of the participants when designing the training program and educational strategies. Participants from the military hospital were shown to have limited competence in Hazmat disaster emergency management.

Expectations of survivors towards disaster nurses in Indonesia: A qualitative study

Objective

This study aims to explore the expectations of survivors towards disaster nurses.

Methods

The study used qualitative content analysis. Data were collected in 2017 through three focus group discussions with 21 survivors and in-depth interviews with three community leaders; the respondents had experienced one of the following events: a) an earthquake in Padang 2009, b) a volcanic eruption in Yogyakarta 2010, and c) flooding in Jakarta 2014.

Results

Four themes represented survivors' expectations of what nurses can do in responding to a disaster, including: a) provision of direct nursing care, b) provision of information of health service access, c) provision of resources through cross-sector coordination, and d) disaster preparedness activities for the community.

Conclusions

This study suggests the importance of disaster nurses having the competency to update information regarding healthcare access, particularly the utilization of health insurance and providing culturally competent care to the survivors. Disaster nurses are also expected to be able to train the community and families about preparedness-related activities. Besides, these disaster nurses should improve their competency in disaster risk reduction. More broadly, such nurses should have the ability to advocate and coordinate with the local government and other stakeholders regarding access to healthcare services and continuous rapid assessment, so that survivors receive immediate and appropriate treatment.

Ready to Respond: A Survey of Interdisciplinary Health-Care Students and Administrators on Disaster Management Competencies

BACKGROUND

A sense of competency and confidence in disaster management is linked to response willingness and efficacy. This study assessed current health-care student disaster competency curricula and resultant confidence.

METHODS

A survey was sent to students and administrators in nurse practitioner (NP), master of public health (MPH), and medical/osteopathic schools (MD/DO), assessing curriculum coverage of 15 disaster management competencies (1-4, total 15-60), and confidence in performing 15 related behaviors (1-7, total 15-105). One-way analysis of variance with Tukey's post-hoc and Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to examine group differences.

RESULTS

A total of 729 students and 72 administrators completed the survey. Low coverage of all topics was reported by both students and administrators (mean 24.4; SD 9.6). Among students, NP students (21.66 ± 8.56) scored significantly lower than MD/DO (23.32 ± 8.19; P < 0.001) and MPH students (26.58 ± 9.06; P < 0.001) on curriculum coverage. Both administrators and students expressed low confidence in competence, with students significantly lower (P < 0.001). NP students scored higher (63.12 ± 20.69; P < 0.001) than both MPH (54.85 ± 17.82) and MD/DO (51.17 ± 19.71; P < 0.001) students.

CONCLUSIONS

Health-care students report low coverage of topics considered to be necessary disaster response competencies, as well as their confidence to execute functions. This may negatively impact willingness and ability of these professionals to respond effectively in a disaster.

Nurses' disaster preparedness and core competencies in Turkey: a descriptive correlational design

AIM

This descriptive correlational study aimed to identify nurses' perceptions of their own disaster preparedness and core competencies.

BACKGROUND

As disasters have increased in number and severity in recent years, it is crucial that nurses should be appropriately prepared. There is still limited research on this issue in Turkey.

INTRODUCTION

With changes in disaster policies in the last decade, the need to improve the disaster core competencies of nurses has also increased.

METHODS

A sample of 406 nurses selected with convenience sampling and working in an 1816-bed capacity university hospital was included in this descriptive correlational study. A single-item visual scale and the 45-item Nurses Perceptions of Disaster Core Competencies Scale were used.

RESULTS

'Technical Skills' scored highest across the subscales of the scale, and 'Critical Thinking Skills' scored lowest. When the total and subscale scores were compared by age group, professional experience, working position and prior disaster experience, there were statistically significant differences.

CONCLUSIONS

The Turkish nurses had different levels of disaster core competencies and considered themselves more competent in some areas of disaster preparedness than in others. There are clearly gaps to be filled in disaster preparedness and core competencies in Turkish nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND POLICY

Nurse managers should advocate for increasing disaster preparedness for all nurses. This could be accomplished by offering formal training in disaster preparedness and/or by scheduling regular disaster drills, perhaps using a mix of tabletop exercises with occasional hospital-wide disaster scenarios. In addition, managers should regularly evaluate nurses' disaster core competencies to achieve effective preparation plans and training.

Effect of education using the virtual social network on the knowledge and attitude of emergency nurses of disaster preparedness: A quasi-experiment study

BACKGROUND

Nurses play an important role in helping people to cope with disasters. Dealing with disasters requires proper knowledge, attitudes and skills that can be achieved through education. Education through virtual social networks as a method of distance education can be used due to its accessibility and ease of use.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the effect of education using the virtual social network on the knowledge and attitude of emergency nurses of disaster preparedness.

DESIGN

This was a pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental study with a control group.

SETTING

The study was conducted in two hospitals in Tehran, Iran.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 60 nurses (n = 30 nurses in each group) participated in this study. Before the study, they signed the informed consent form.

METHODS

They were selected using a census method and were divided into two control (n = 30) and intervention groups (n = 30). Data was collected before and after the intervention using the disaster preparedness questionnaire. The intervention group received 34-session education of disaster preparedness via the virtual social network (Telegram application). Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics via the SPSS v.22 software.

RESULTS

No statistically significant difference was reported between the groups regarding the pretest knowledge score, but the posttest knowledge score was significantly higher in the intervention group compared to the control group (p < 0.001). In the intervention group, knowledge scores significantly increased at the posttest compared to the pretest (p < 0.01). No a similar condition happened in the control group. While the posttest attitude score was higher than the pretest attitude score, it was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

A significant increase in the knowledge score of the intervention group was reported compared to the control group indicating the effectiveness of learning through the virtual social network. Also, the high level of attitude scores before and after education indicated the positive attitude of emergency nurses toward the need for disaster preparedness.

Climate Change Impacts on Disaster and Emergency Medicine Focusing on Mitigation Disruptive Effects: an International Perspective

In recent decades, climate change has been responsible for an increase in the average temperature of the troposphere and of the oceans, with consequences on the frequency and intensity of many extreme weather phenomena. Climate change’s effects on natural disasters can be expected to induce a rise in humanitarian crises. In addition, it will surely impact the population’s long-term general health, especially among the most fragile. There are foreseeable health risks that both ambulatory care organizations and hospitals will face as global temperatures rise. These risks include the geographic redistribution of infectious (particularly zoonotic) diseases, an increase in cardiac and respiratory illnesses, as well as a host of other health hazards. Some of these risks have been detailed for most developed countries as well as for some developing countries. Using these existing risk assessments as a template, organizational innovations as well as implementation strategies should be proposed to mitigate the disruptive effects of these health risks on emergency departments and by extension, reduce the negative impact of climate change on the populations they serve.