Strengthening and preparing: Enhancing nursing research for disaster management

Nurses' Readiness for Catastrophe Management and Its Relation to Their Organizational Commitment: Recommendations for Education

Background

Catastrophes are challenging events for nations and health systems that require healthcare providers, especially nurses, to be prepared to respond effectively. Although nurses play a critical role in managing catastrophes and postcatastrophic situations, their preparedness is often inadequate and affected by their organizational commitment. Therefore, this study assessed nurses' preparedness for catastrophe management and its relationship with their organizational commitment.

Methods

A cross-sectional correlational, descriptive design involving 286 conveniently sampled nurses was conducted in four public hospitals in Hail city. Data were collected using a questionnaire that compiled two tools: the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool to assess nurses' preparedness for catastrophe management and the Organizational Commitment Scale to assess their attachment to their hospitals. Correlations between mean scores of nurses' knowledge, skills, and preparedness for postcatastrophe management and organizational commitment were tested using Spearman's correlation, with a significance level of <0.05.

Results

Most nurses had low levels of knowledge (79.7%), skills (78.7%), and preparedness for postcatastrophe management (78.7% each). Meanwhile, 57.3% of nurses had low levels of affective commitment to their hospitals, compared to 78.7% for continuance and normative commitments. Statistically significant positive, moderate correlations were found between nurses' knowledge and skills in managing catastrophes (r = 0.512; p < 0.01) and knowledge and preparedness for postcatastrophe management (r = 0.492; p < 0.01), as well as nurses' skills and preparedness for postcatastrophe management (r = 0.533; p < 0.01). However, the nurses' level of organizational commitment was not significantly correlated with their knowledge, skills, or preparedness for postcatastrophe management.

Conclusion

Nurses in Hail city are not adequately prepared to respond to and manage catastrophes and postcatastrophic situations, and they have low organizational commitments to their hospitals. Therefore, nursing education should integrate catastrophe management into the curricula, and hospital administrators should prioritize a supportive work environment that strengthens organizational commitment and provides ongoing education and regular training to improve nurses' preparedness for catastrophe management.

Clinical nursing competency during epidemics: a qualitative content analysis

BACKGROUND

Nurses are on the frontline for managing epidemic diseases. Different aspects of clinical nursing competencies during epidemics are important issues that need investigation.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to determine the required clinical competencies for nurses during epidemics. Understanding these competencies could provide valuable information for health care services and nursing education organizations to prepare nurses for future epidemics.

METHODS

The qualitative conventional content analysis study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 12 nurses that were actively engaged in providing patient care during COVID-19 pandemic in Shahid Beheshti hospital in Kashan/Iran, from October 2022 to March 2023. The data analysis process was conducted according to 5 steps suggested by Graneheim and Lundman.

RESULTS

After analysis, the 159 competencies were derived from interviews that were categorized to 11 subcategories, and three categories of clinical nursing skills in epidemics, knowledge of epidemics, and soft skills for nurses in epidemics.

CONCLUSION

Nurses need wide range of competencies to address the professional expectations regarding providing acceptable care during epidemics. Knowing these competencies can help nursing managers to prepare nurses for crisis such as what world experienced during COVID-19 pandemic.

Emergency Nurses' Competency in the Emergency Department Context: A Qualitative Study

Background

The availability of clear emergency nurses' competencies is critical for safe and effective emergency health care services. The study regarding emergency nurses' competencies remained virtually limited.

Purpose

This study aimed to explore the emergency nurses' competencies in the clinical emergency department (ED) context as needed by society.

Methods

This qualitative study involved focus group discussions in six groups of 54 participants from three EDs. The data were analysed using grounded theory approach including the constant comparative, interpretations, and coding procedures; initial coding, focused coding and categories.

Results

This study revealed 8 core competencies of emergency nurses: Shifting the nursing practice, Caring for acute critical patients, Communicating and coordinating, Covering disaster nursing roles, Reflecting on the ethical and legal standards, Researching competency, Teaching competencies and Leadership competencies. The interconnection of the 8 core competencies has resulted in 2 concepts of extending the ED nursing practice and demanding the advanced ED nursing role.

Conclusion

The finding reflected the community needs of nurses who work in ED settings and the need for competency development of emergency nurses.

Strengthening research capacity: a systematic review of manuscript writing and publishing interventions for researchers in low-income and middle-income countries

INTRODUCTION

Health researchers from low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are under-represented in the academic literature. Scientific writing and publishing interventions may help researchers publish their findings; however, we lack evidence about the prevalence and effectiveness of such interventions. This review describes interventions for researchers in LMICs aimed at strengthening capacity for writing and publishing academic journal articles.

METHODS

We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines to report literature searches in PubMed, Embase, Global Health, Scopus and ERIC. Our keywords included LMICs, low-income and middle-income countries, health research and writing/publication support interventions, with no restrictions on publication date. Our screening process consisted of title screening, abstract review and full-text review. We collected information about the content, implementation and evaluation of each intervention, if included.

RESULTS

We identified 20 interventions designed to strengthen capacity for scientific writing and publishing. We summarised information from the 14 interventions that reported submitted or published papers as outcomes separately, reasoning that because they provide quantifiable metrics of success, they may offer particular insights into intervention components leading to publication. The writing and publishing components in this 'Publications Reported' group were an average length of 5.4 days compared with 2.5 days in the other group we refer to as 'Other Interventions.' Whereas all 14 Publications Reported interventions incorporated mentors, only two of five in the Other Interventions group incorporated mentors. Across interventions, leaders expressed the importance of a high ratio of mentors to participants, the need to accommodate time demands of busy researchers, and the necessity of a budget for open access fees and high-quality internet connectivity.

CONCLUSION

Writing and publishing interventions in LMICs are an underutilised opportunity for capacity strengthening. To facilitate the implementation of high-quality interventions, future writing and publishing interventions should share their experiences by publishing detailed information about the approach and effectiveness of the interventions.

Nurses' knowledge, skills and preparedness for disaster management of a Megapolis: Implications for nursing disaster education

As frontline health caregivers, nurses must be adequately prepared to respond effectively to disasters. Therefore, it is necessary to assess nurses' disaster management capacity to know their preparedness levels, especially for a densely populated Megapolis like Dhaka, which is at high risk of disasters. Thus, the study aimed to examine Dhaka city nurses' knowledge, skills, preparedness (KSP) for disasters and explore the factors influencing the KSP levels. A self-explanatory descriptive survey questionnaire was developed adopting the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET) in Bangla language for quantitative data collection. Following multistage sampling, 410 nurses' data were collected from eight hospitals in Dhaka city. The nurses in Dhaka city had moderate levels of knowledge, skills, and preparedness for disaster management, reflecting that they need more development to deal with disasters effectively. Moreover, multiple linear regression analyses indicate that nurses' disaster knowledge, skills, and preparedness scores were significantly positively associated with training on disaster management (p < 0.001) and disaster response experience (p < 0.001). In addition, one-half of the respondents demanded more drills and exercises on disaster management in their workplaces to enhance their disaster skills and preparedness. Furthermore, disaster education should be incorporated into the nursing curriculum, which would play a seminal role in preparing them for future disaster management.

Nurses' Roles in Nursing Disaster Model: A Systematic Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Nurses have a continuous presence and crucial role in response to disasters. During disasters, nurses apply specific knowledge and skills to minimize victims' health and life-threatening risks. Nurses' roles in crisis are not clearly stated in resources. Thus, this study aimed to explore nurses' role in the nursing disaster model.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted using Joanna Briggs Institute framework. The review considered primary research and reviewed literature from following databases, including Web of Science, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, as well as the reference lists of articles identified for full-text review. Eligibility criteria were outlined as a priori to guide the literature selection.

RESULTS

Eight of 60 eligible articles met the inclusion criteria. The studies were conducted in different countries with no limit of time of published articles. The publications' design were three systematic reviews, one meta-synthesis, two qualitative types of research, one quasi-experimental, and one case study. The results showed nurses' roles in the three stages before, during, and after the crisis.

CONCLUSION

This review provided a comprehensive understanding of the concept of the nursing role in the crisis, and nurses could be useful to save victims through preparing and implementing effective care at different stages of a crisis.

Disaster Knowledge, Skills, and Preparedness Among Nurses in Bengkulu, Indonesia: A Descriptive Correlational Survey Study

INTRODUCTION

Registered nurses have to adequately prepare to respond to disasters, as they have become increasingly frequent worldwide. The aim of this study was to identify the factors influencing registered nurses' disaster preparedness in Bengkulu, Indonesia.

METHODS

This study used a descriptive correlational study design. A total of 130 registered nurses working in 2 governmental hospitals in Bengkulu, Indonesia, were recruited by using a convenience sampling technique. A self-administered questionnaire, the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool, was used to determine their current levels of registered nurses' disaster preparedness.

RESULTS

The registered nurses reported a moderate level of disaster knowledge, skills and preparedness. Their knowledge and skills were significantly correlated with disaster preparedness (r = 0.39-0.71, P < 0.01). Three significant factors associated with disaster preparedness were identified in this study: educational level, disaster knowledge, and disaster skills (R² = 0.31, F = 12.60, P < 0.001).

DISCUSSION

Continuing disaster drills training and implementing a formal disaster educational program into nursing curriculum and professional development are recommended to achieve effective disaster preparedness in the hospital setting.

Expanding knowledge and roles for authority and practice boundaries of Emergency Department nurses: a grounded theory study

Purpose: While emergency department nurses in Indonesia are critical to quality care, the role lacks recognition and standard practices and regulation of scope of practice are absent. This research explored the role of nurses in Indonesian EDs.

Method: The conceptual lens applied in the research was grounded theory. The main data source was 51 semi- structured interviews with 43 ED nurses, three directors of nursing, three nurse leaders and two nurse educators. Data were also generated through observations and memos.

Results: Two key categories were constructed; shifting work boundaries and lack of authority. Shifting work boundaries was symbolic of a lack of professional authority and legitimized knowledge. Lack of authority reflected the dimension of professional autonomy through the nexus of power and knowledge. The interrelationship of these two concepts constructed a core category, securing legitimate power, which underpinned the positioning of nursing in Indonesia.

Conclusions: The interconnection between political gains, tertiary knowledge, professional regulation and implementation of gender-sensitive policies was critical to the development of the ED role, the positioning of nursing within the health care system and improvement in quality of care.

A new scale for disaster nursing core competencies: Development and psychometric testing

BACKGROUND

All nurses must have core competencies in preparing for, responding to and recovering from a disaster. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), as in many other countries, disaster nursing core competencies are not fully understood and lack reliable, validated tools. Thus, it is imperative to develop a scale for exploring disaster nursing core competencies, roles and barriers in the KSA.

OBJECTIVES

This study's objective is to develop a valid, reliable scale that identifies and explores core competencies of disaster nursing, nurses' roles in disaster management and barriers to developing disaster nursing in the KSA.

METHODS

This study developed a new scale testing its validity and reliability. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to develop and test psychometric properties of the new scale. The PCA used a purposive sample of nurses from emergency departments in two hospitals in the KSA. Participants rated 93 paper-based, self-report questionnaire items from 1 to 10 on a Likert scale. PCA using Varimax rotation was conducted to explore factors emerging from responses.

FINDINGS

The study's participants were 132 nurses (66% response rate). PCA of the 93 questionnaire items revealed 49 redundant items (which were deleted) and 3 factors with eigenvalues of >1. The remaining 44 items accounted for 77.3% of the total variance. The overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.96 for all factors: 0.98 for Factor 1, 0.92 for Factor 2 and 0.86 for Factor 3.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provided a validated, reliable scale for exploring nurses' core competencies, nurses' roles and barriers to developing disaster nursing in the KSA. The new scale has many implications, such as for improving education, planning and curricula.

Cross-sectional survey of the disaster preparedness of nurses across the Asia-Pacific region

Healthcare workers who have received disaster preparedness education are more likely to report a greater understanding of disaster preparedness. However, research indicates that current nursing curricula do not adequately prepare nurses to respond to disasters. This is the first study to assess Asia-Pacific nurses' perceptions about their level of disaster knowledge, skills, and preparedness. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 757 hospital and community nurses in seven Asia-Pacific countries. Data were collected using the modified Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool. Participants were found to have overall low-to-moderate levels of disaster knowledge, skills and preparedness, wherein important gaps were identified. A majority of the variance in disaster preparedness scores was located at the level of the individual respondent, not linked to countries or institutions. Multilevel random effects modelling identified disaster experience and education as significant factors of positive perceptions of disaster knowledge, skills, and management. The first step toward disaster preparedness is to ensure frontline health workers are able to respond effectively to disaster events. The outcomes of this study have important policy and education implications.