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

Investigation of the Relationship Between Disaster Risk Perception and Sustainable Earthquake Awareness of Nursing Students

This study aimed to assess the perception of disaster risk and the level of earthquake awareness among students enrolled in the Department of Nursing at Artvin Çoruh University, Faculty of Health Sciences. The study sample comprised 274 students enrolled in the Department of Nursing at Artvin Çoruh University, Faculty of Health Sciences. The data were gathered utilizing the Sociodemographic Characteristics Form, Disaster Risk Perception Scale, and Sustainable Earthquake Awareness Scale. The data was obtained using the SPSS 24.0 program and analyzed using t tests, One-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analyses. The study's findings indicate that most students have yet to undergo disaster training, yet most are interested in such training. Furthermore, it was ascertained that most students had not encountered any calamity. However, they wanted to participate actively and voluntarily in disaster scenarios. A statistically significant difference was observed between the students' class and the average total scores of disaster risk perception scale and sustainable earthquake awareness scale. Courses on disaster management should be added to nursing education curricula. In order to provide disaster risk perception and sustainable earthquake awareness to nursing students, they need to take part in different activities in the field of disaster management.

Instruments for the assessment of disaster management among healthcare professionals: a scoping review

Objectives

The recent disasters have highlighted the importance of healthcare professionals (HCPs) in aiding communities and maintaining consistent services, prompting a global reconsideration of disaster preparedness approaches. This scoping review aimed to identify and evaluate the psychometric properties of the available instruments that measure disaster preparedness and readiness among HCPs.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted using five concepts: disasters, health personnel, preparedness, management, and questionnaire. Three databases were searched for studies published in English. The identified instruments were summarized according to disaster type, disaster management phase, measurement scope/context, and healthcare discipline. The psychometric properties were evaluated according to content validity, response process, internal structure, relation to other variables, and consequences.

Results

The Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ) was the most commonly used instrument, while the Provider Response to Emergency Pandemic (PREP) and the Korean version of the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET) were the most valid instruments. Most instruments have undergone limited psychometric evaluations, primarily focusing on content and internal structure validations, with response process, relation to other variables, and consequences not frequently reported.

Conclusion

The review highlights the lack of well-developed assessment instruments for disaster preparedness in healthcare disciplines, highlighting the need for future research to develop and thoroughly validate such instruments.

Systematic review registration

https://www.researchregistry.com/browse-the-registry#registryofsystematicreviewsmeta-analyses/registryofsystematicreviewsmeta-analysesdetails/638dbba71e82b30021c02680/.

Developing and evaluating a Disaster Management Assessment Tool for Health Care Practitioners

BACKGROUND

Over the last fifty years, the frequency and intensity of disasters have escalated, highlighting the importance of healthcare practitioners (HCPs) being thoroughly prepared for disaster management. Despite this pressing need, there is a notable lack of well-developed and rigorously evaluated assessment tools to evaluate disaster preparedness among HCPs across various disciplines and disaster scenarios. This study aims to develop and evaluate a Disaster Management Assessment Tool for Health Care Practitioners (DMAT_HCP).

METHODS

The DMAT_HCP was designed following the four stages of the Disaster Management Framework and a literature review of similar previously validated tools. Content validity was assessed through two rounds of review by nine and six experts, whereas face validity was assessed by 11 HCPs. DMAT_HCP was tested on 107 HCPs from different health disciplines and settings to evaluate the structural (factor analysis) and construct (convergent and divergent) validities as well as internal consistency reliability.

RESULTS

DMAT_HCP comprised five Likert scales that assess the preparedness and readiness of HCPs for disaster, with satisfactory content validity indices (CVI > 0.83 for six experts). Factor analysis of the entire set of DMAT_HCP items suggested six factors: knowledge, two sub-domains of attitude, practice, willingness to practice, and organization-based management, which together accounted for 77.9% of the variance in the data. Convergent and divergent validity analyses showed that all items within a section had a correlation coefficient greater than 0.4 with their corresponding section score, and they were more strongly correlated with their own section than with scores from other sections. Cronbach's alpha values for the individual sections ranged from 0.89 (attitude) to 0.97 (organization-based management), and the overall Cronbach's alpha for the DMAT_HCP was 0.90.

CONCLUSIONS

This study substantiated that DMAT_HCP is both conceptually and methodologically valid and reliable. It has demonstrated strong content validity, accurately measures the intended constructs, and effectively distinguishes between unrelated constructs. The tool also exhibited excellent internal consistency reliability across its components. The tool offers a comprehensive, globally applicable assessment of disaster management, suitable for use across various healthcare professions, settings, disaster contexts, and management phases.

Determination of the relationship between competencies in disaster nursing management and perceived stress: The intermediary role of resilience

BACKGROUND

Türkiye encounters various natural disasters, foremost earthquakes, and, nurses' resilience, ability to cope with stress and disaster competence play a significant role in disasters.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to establish the intermediary role of resilience in the relation between nurses' competencies in disaster management and perceived stress.

METHOD

The sampling of this descriptive and cross-sectional study included 240 nurses from across Türkiye. The socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire, Competencies for Disaster Nursing Management Questionnaire, Brief Resilience Scale, Perceived Stress Scale were utilized in order to collect data. Among the continuous variables of the research, Pearson correlation analysis, linear regression and hierarchical regression analyses regarding the intermediary effect were performed by using PROCESS Model.

FINDINGS

The mean scale scores of nurses were detected to be "CDNMQ" 6.300 ± 2.771 (medium), "BRS" 18.463 ± 4.308 (medium), and "PS" 21.038 ± 6.759 (low), respectively. The relationship between CDNMQ and PS (path c; ß = -0.534) descends in case BRS is added to the model (path c'; ß = -0.429) (p < 0.05). In light of this finding, BRS was determined to be a partial intervening variable between CDNMQ and PS.

CONCLUSION

In accordance with this study, it is recommended to plan studies to enhance disaster nursing competence, prioritize resilience, and reproduce this study in various nurse groups.

Emergency nurses' disaster preparedness competencies: A focused mapping review and synthesis

Background

Emergency nurses are at the front line of a health institution and are deemed competent to manage various situations, with disaster being one of them. Preparing for disaster is crucial as it will eliminate delays in providing care in conditions that would be abnormal in the daily running of an emergency department.

Aim

To identify emergency nurses' disaster preparedness competencies in caring for patients during a disaster.

Setting

The study was conducted in emergency departments and trauma centres that respond to disasters and mass casualty incidents.

Methods

A focused mapping review and synthesis was conducted where, articles published between 2006 and 2022 were searched utilising keywords relating to emergency nurses' disaster preparedness through the following databases: SCOPUS, Sabinet, EBSCO host, ProQuest, PubMed and Google Scholar. Data were extracted from articles that met the inclusion criteria and placed into an extraction table where themes were developed.

Results

Of the 38 articles identified, duplicates were removed and 15 remained after an abstract review and full-text download. The review yielded five themes: communication, preparation and planning, incident management system, safety and security and intervention, the most dominant disaster competencies.

Conclusion

Communication, incident management, safety and security, preparedness and planning are the most identified integral domains within other identified domains. Integrating these aspects in nurses' continuous training and curricula is recommended to emphasise and enhance disaster preparedness and management knowledge.

Contribution

This review has emphasised emergency nurses' disaster preparedness domains, enhancing disaster preparedness and management knowledge and further influencing education and training for undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students.

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.

The competence of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients regarding disaster management: Structural equation modeling of knowledge, attitude, and performance

Background

The outbreak of COVID-19 as a global disaster has required nurses, as front-line providers of safe and quality care to patients with this disease, for proper disaster management to have a high level of competence, which demands an acceptable level of knowledge, attitude, and performance. Therefore, this study was conducted to model the relationship between knowledge, attitude, and performance with the competence of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 regarding disaster management.

Methods

This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 291 hospital nurses using the structural equation modeling approach in three provinces of Iran, including Kerman, Hormozgan, and Fars, from June to December 2021. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire that provided information on demographics, knowledge, attitude, performance, and competence regarding disaster management. Data analysis, which included descriptive and inferential statistics, was performed using SPSS and AMOS software. Moreover, the structural equation modeling method was based on the covariance to examine the proposed model of the relationship between knowledge, attitude, and performance with nurses' competence.

Results

The study revealed that the nurses had average knowledge, acceptable attitudes, high performance, and acceptable competence scores. A positive and significant relationship was found between knowledge, attitude, and performance with nurses' competencies (P < 00.05). Furthermore, the coefficient of determination of nurses' competence in the modified structural model indicates that exogenous variables, namely knowledge, attitude, and performance, could predict 36 % of the changes in nurses' competence. Finally, the path coefficient of the effect of knowledge, attitude, and performance on nurses' competence was higher than 1.96.

Conclusions

According to the study, although the knowledge, attitude, performance, and competence of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 were at an acceptable level, there were obstacles to improving their competence. Hence, identifying and prioritizing educational needs and learning preferences based on their cultural backgrounds are also emphasized.

Competency in responding to infectious disease outbreaks among nurses in primary healthcare institutions: a quantitative, cross-sectional multicentre study

Background

Nurses' competencies are crucial for infectious disease prevention and control. We aimed to investigate competencies in responding to infectious disease outbreaks of nurses in primary healthcare institutions and identify their training needs.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to September 2022, recruiting nurses from primary healthcare institutions across Sichuan Province. Their competencies and training needs were assessed using a modified Emergency Response Competency Scale for Infectious Diseases. Additionally, their sociodemographic characteristics and experience in infectious disease outbreak trainings were collected. Univariate analyses were used to compare competencies and training needs by participant characteristics. Multiple linear regression was conducted to identify determinants of their competencies.

Results

A total of 1,439 nurses from 44 primary healthcare institutions participated in this study. The overall competency and training needs had a median of 3.6 (IQR [3.1, 4.0]) and 4.0 (IQR [3.9, 4.7]), respectively. Age (β = -0.074, p = 0.005), experience in higher authority hospitals (β = 0.057, p = 0.035), infectious disease outbreak trainings attended within the last 5 years (β = 0.212, p < 0.001), and regions where the institutions located were determinants of the competencies.

Conclusion

The competencies in responding to infectious disease outbreaks among nurses in primary healthcare institutions were at a moderate level, influenced by varied factors.

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.

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.

Health and care workers in long-term care facilities and their role in preventing emerging infectious diseases: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on healthcare systems worldwide. In particular, long-term care facilities have proved more susceptible to infection as they care for vulnerable populations at high risk of chronic illness. How this impacts the role and core competencies of health and care workers in these facilities remains less understood.

AIM

Describe how health and care workers contribute to the prevention of emerging infectious diseases in long-term care facilities.

DESIGN

A scoping review.

METHODS

A systematic search of literature dating from 2002 to 2022 was conducted in the following databases: EMBASE, Medline (Ovid), Cochrane Library, CINAHL Plus with Full Text (EBSCOhost), Web of Science, and AgeLine. Studies were selected if they focused on health and care workers in long-term care facilities, offered a perspective on the prevention of emerging infectious diseases or infection prevention and control, and were original qualitative or quantitative studies in English. Data were extracted, cross-checked and analyzed by two researchers, and any difference in views regarding the appropriateness of literature would be resolved by consulting a third researcher. An inductive descriptive approach was applied for the analysis of results, and themes were established via consensus meetings.

RESULTS

A total of fourteen studies from Asia, Europe, and the Americas were included. Three themes emerged from the review: "The roles of health and care workers evolve with the times", "The core competencies of health and care workers are essential for preventing emerging infectious diseases in long-term care facilities" and "The key to successful prevention of emerging infectious diseases in long-term care facilities is through a systematic, comprehensive effort that mobilize health and care workers at all levels". Health and care workers had to take on increasingly complex roles and rely on their core competencies to cope with epidemic changes, and facility resources, employee quality and management models were found to have significantly improved infection prevention and control outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The roles of health and care workers are evolving, and effective infection prevention within long-term care facilities depends on their ability to perform core competencies with skill and confidence. Moreover, a systematic, comprehensive framework, for which this paper proposes three guidelines, is urgently needed to ensure consistent policy implementation within the facility as well as support and access to resources for health and care workers.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Infection prevention efforts within long-term care facilities must take into account the evolving roles of health and care workers, with a focus on guaranteeing access to resources, training and support that will help them gain the core competencies necessary for juggling those roles. In addition, there is an urgent need for research instruments that will help assess those competencies and identify areas of improvement.

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.

Common domains of nurses' competencies in public health emergencies: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

A public health emergency can cause large numbers of deaths in a short period, with devastating social, economic and health consequences. Nurses are the main healthcare providers during such emergencies, and their competencies affect the control and outcomes of the situation. Studies on nurses' competencies in public health emergencies vary between countries and healthcare systems. Therefore, we conducted a scoping review to identify the common domains of nurses' competencies in public health emergencies worldwide.

METHODS

We searched the PubMed, CINHAL, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, Embase, Cochrane Library, WanFang and ECRI databases from their inception to 2023. All published articles on nurses' competencies in public health emergencies that were published in English and Chinese were included. We mainly analyzed and synthesized nurses' competencies, assessment instruments and the training described in the included studies.

RESULTS

A total of 27 competency domains were identified following an analysis and summary. The most frequently cited domains were communication skills, self-protection skills, basic knowledge of a public health emergency, laws and ethics and the capacity for organizational collaboration. The Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool and the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire were the most commonly used tools for assessing competencies. Most training was conducted online and the content that was covered varied by country.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the significant roles and responsibilities of nurses in public health emergencies, knowing the domains of their competencies is essential to evaluating, developing, and conducting clinical training.

Fear, stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia related to COVID-19 among undergraduate nursing students: An international survey

The emergence of COVID-19 has produced unprecedented change in daily life activities leading to major impacts on psychological wellbeing and sleep among individuals worldwide. The study aimed to assess levels of fear, stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia among undergraduate nursing students in four countries two years after the start of the pandemic. An international, multi-centre cross-sectional electronic survey was conducted between December 2021 and April 2022. An on-line questionnaire was distributed via Qualtrics® and JISC® software. Instruments included the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Insomnia Severity Index, and a demographics and academic background questionnaire. The independent variables included demographic and academic backgrounds, while fear level, stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia were the dependent variables. A total of 918 undergraduate nursing students from KSA, Oman, UK, and UAE were participants in the study. Students presented with stress (91.6%), anxiety (69.1%), depression (59.8%), and insomnia (73.2%). The participants' mean Fear of COVID-19 Scale score was 12.97 (SD = 6.14). There were significant positive relationships between fear of COVID-19, stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Undergraduate nursing students experienced moderate to severe levels of Fear of COVID-19, stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological intervention and peer support are needed to reduce the long-term adverse outcomes of mental health problems and insomnia. It is important to introduce education about crisis management of infectious disease during pandemics into the nursing curriculum to increase student knowledge and improve their preparedness for such emergencies.

An Unfolding Tabletop Simulation Training Exercise on Disaster Planning for Nursing Students

BACKGROUND

Disaster planning is an essential component for nursing students to learn.

PROBLEM

Clinical experiences of disasters are typically unavailable for nursing students. Increasing frequency of disaster events around the globe has made disaster planning knowledge and skills a critical component in nursing education and professional practice.

APPROACH

An unfolding tabletop disaster planning exercise was created as a simulation training strategy meant to strengthen essential disaster response skills. The exercise involves 5 realistic scenarios related to a mass casualty event, taking students from the disaster site to the hospital-based disaster response.

OUTCOMES

Implementation of a tabletop disaster planning simulation in one nursing program replaced the traditional lecture-based disaster content.

CONCLUSION

An unfolding tabletop disaster planning simulation is a comprehensive, interactive, sustainable, and low-cost teaching strategy that draws on nursing students' fundamental knowledge. Students had the opportunity to practice clinical skills required during a disaster, such as communication, prioritization, teamwork, and delegation.

Clinical competency and psychological empowerment among ICU nurses caring for COVID-19 patients: A cross-sectional survey study

Aim

This study aimed to determine clinical competency and psychological empowerment among ICU nurses caring for COVID‐19 patients.

Background

Nurses need clinical competency (skills pertaining to knowledge, reasoning, emotions and communication) and psychological empowerment (regard for one's organisational role and efforts) to deliver quality care.

Methods

This cross‐sectional study was conducted with 207 nurses working in ICUs in Iran. A clinical competency survey instrument consisting of basic demographic questions and the Spreitzer psychological empowerment questionnaire was completed online. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data in SPSS software version 13 to address the primary research question.

Results

There was a significant positive relationship between clinical competency and psychological empowerment (r = .55, p < .001). Clinical competency had a significant positive relationship with work experiences (r = .17, p = .01).

Conclusion

Clinical competency has been tied to nurse health and quality of care. Given the significant positive relationship between clinical competency and psychological empowerment, attention must be given to ways to psychologically empower nurses.

Implications for Nursing Management

Nursing managers can consider the promotion of psychological empowerment related to its significant positive relationship to clinical competency. Psychological empowerment can be bolstered through the promotion of servant leadership, organisational justice and empowering leadership practices.

Association Between Clinical Competencies and Mental Health Symptoms Among Frontline Medical Staff During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background

In China, mental health of frontline medical staff might be influenced by clinicians' ability to handle the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Few studies to-date have addressed the association between clinicians' competencies and mental health in this context. This cross-sectional study was to examine the prevalence of mental health symptoms among frontline medical staff that fought against the COVID-19 outbreak, and explore the associations between their competencies, and separate and concurrent depressive and anxiety symptoms.

Methods

A total of 623 frontline medical staff was included in this study. Competencies, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms were assessed using a self-reported short form of the Chinese clinical physicians' competency model, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire, respectively. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between one SD increase in competency scores and the prevalence of mental health problems.

Results

The prevalence of depressive, anxiety, and comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms was 40.93, 31.78, and 26.00%, respectively. Among the medical staff with higher total competency scores, the prevalence of depressive [odds ratios (ORs) = 0.67, 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 0.55-0.81], anxiety (OR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.56-0.83), and comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.55-0.83) was lower than among their lower-scoring counterparts. Subgroup analyses stratified by core competency scores revealed similar associations as the main analyses.

Conclusion

The present findings highlight the association between high core competency scores and lower prevalence of depressive, anxiety, and comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms.

A Glance at the Barriers and Enablers of the Nursing Role in Pandemics: An Integrative Review

Objective: to analyze the enablers and barriers to nurses’ professional role fulfillment during pandemics and disasters. Materials and methods: this was an integrative review based on the SALSA analytical method, carried out in eight databases, namely: Medline, Proquest, CINAHL, Web of Science, BVS, SpringerLink, Scopus, and Pubmed. The descriptors used were the following: ‘nurse’s role’ AND ‘pandemic’ AND ‘patient’ AND ‘coronavirus infection’, in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Filters along with inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the 11,031 articles found, after which the final sample consisted of a total of 32 articles. Results: considering the objectives set and the results obtained, it is noted that all actions focused on three main instances, namely: a) training and updating for role performance; b) predictors, enablers, and barriers for exercising the role in the face of a pandemic; and c) evidence of the role in the face of pandemics. Conclusion: this study allowed understanding both the barriers and the enablers that allow the fulfillment of nurses’ professional role in the face of pandemics or catastrophes. It also clarified that emerging infectious diseases must be addressed in an immediate, collaborative, and multidisciplinary way. Nurses’ experience, leadership, and professional training are key attributes that these professionals possess to enable their role to be more proactive during an emergency situation.

Identification of the role of oral health educators in elementary schools during COVID-19 pandemic: a competency framework

OBJECTIVE

Oral health educators should have the required knowledge, skills and attitude in order to meet the increased needs of the Ministry of Education in Syria as well as to perform their duties in promoting oral health in children appropriately during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study was undertaken to identify core competencies required for oral health educators in elementary schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative exploratory study was undertaken. A focus group which consisted of 5 Medical Education postgraduates and 3 oral health educators' training team members were invited to formulate a preliminary list of basic competencies. Delphi technique was also adopted through inviting 12 experts in oral health education to evaluate and formulate a final list of elementary schools' oral health educators' competencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESULTS

A competency framework was developed. Fifty-five competencies were identified including 35 in cognitive domain, 12 skills and 8 attitude competencies. A list of essential competencies has been identified. These competencies should be addressed in training programs targeting oral health educators, which can consequently produce competent educators who can successfully promote and provide health care to all schoolchildren during the COVID-19 pandemic.