Japanese nurses' perception of their preparedness for disasters: Quantitative survey research on one prefecture in Japan.

The objective of this study was to explore nurses' perceptions regarding their knowledge, skills, and preparedness for disasters and how they acquired their knowledge about disaster preparation using a quantitative approach. A descriptive cross-sectional survey using the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool was distributed to nurses in six hospitals (three private, three public) throughout Miyazaki Prefecture located in southern Japan. Nine hundred and seventy-three surveys (87.4%) were returned. Seventy-two were eliminated leaving 902 (81.0%) for data analysis. Mean scores for preparedness, response abilities, and evaluation all scored below normal on a 6 point Likert scale (2.63, 2.02, and 2.05, respectively). Overall, nurses felt they were not able to respond in a variety of disaster situations, were aware of their workplace emergency disaster plan, but did not think they could execute them, and were not aware of the level of preparedness of the healthcare systems in their communities. The amount of information nurses need to know on the knowledge, skills, and preparation of disasters are in great need. Such skills are understood, but lacking for various reasons. In-house programs for nurses to learn more about disaster nursing are needed. Furthermore, a curriculum for disaster preparedness for undergraduate and graduate nursing programs would also help these future nurses gain more information earlier on to better prepare them for possible disaster situations in their future careers.

Öztekin SD ，Larson EE ，Akahoshi M ，Öztekin İ ... -  《-》

Jordanian nurses' perceptions of their preparedness for disaster management.

To assess Jordanian RNs' perceptions regarding their knowledge, skills, and preparedness for disaster management. Current disaster knowledge, skills, and preparedness levels need to be evaluated to guide plans for effective educational programs. There is also a need to know where RNs received their knowledge, skills, and preparation, to enhance or improve future educational opportunities. Cross-sectional survey where the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET(®)) was distributed to Jordanian RNs who work in three randomly selected Ministry of Health hospitals and two university hospitals. Four hundred and seventy-four participants completed the survey. Sixty-five per cent of respondents described their current disaster preparedness as weak: 18% medium: 12% good; and 5% felt their preparation was very good. Thirty-one per cent received disaster education in undergraduate programs; 8% in graduate nursing programs; 31% in facility drills, and 22% in continuing education courses. Eleven per cent had participated in a real disaster. Four hundred and thirty RNs wanted to learn more about RNs role in disasters, including knowledge and skills. Knowledge,skills, and disaster preparedness need continual reinforcement to improve self efficacy for disaster management. There is a need for a consistent national nursing curriculum for disaster preparedness and nationwide drills to increase disaster knowledge, skills, preparedness, and confidence.

Al Khalaileh MA ，Bond E ，Alasad JA 《-》

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.

Hasan MK ，Younos TB ，Farid Z 《-》

Nurses' preparedness and perceived competence in managing disasters.

This article is a descriptive analysis of rural nurses' perceived readiness to manage disaster situations. The 58-item Disaster Readiness Questionnaire was used to survey hospital-based nurses from rural communities in Texas during the summer of 2011. The data were collected by emailing a link through the various hospital intranet sites, resulting in a sample size of 620 nurses. Findings revealed that most nurses are not confident in their abilities to respond to major disaster events. The nurses who were confident were more likely to have had actual prior experience in disasters or shelters. Self-regulation of behavior (motivation) was a significant predictor of perceived nurse competence to manage disasters only in regard to the nurse's willingness to assume the risk of involvement in a disaster situation. Healthcare climate (job satisfaction) was not a determinant of disaster preparedness. Global increases in natural and human-induced disasters have called attention to the part that health providers play in mitigation and recovery. Since nurses are involved in planning, mitigation, response, and recovery aspects of disasters, they should actively seek opportunities to participate in actual disaster events, mock drills, and further educational opportunities specific to disaster preparedness. Administrators must support and encourage disaster preparedness education of nurses to promote hospital readiness to provide community care delivery in the event of a disaster situation. Nursing comprises the largest healthcare workforce, and yet there is very little research examining nurses' readiness for disaster.

Baack S ，Alfred D 《-》

Emergency nurse disaster preparedness during mass gatherings: a cross-sectional survey of emergency nurses' perceptions in hospitals in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

To assess hospital emergency nurses' self-reported knowledge, role awareness and skills in disaster response with respect to the Hajj mass gathering in Mecca. Cross-sectional online survey with primary data collection and non-probabilistic purposive sample conducted in late 2014. All 4 public hospitals in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. 106 registered nurses in hospital emergency departments. Awareness, knowledge, skills and perceptions of emergency nurses in Mecca with regard to mass gathering disaster preparedness. Although emergency nurses' clinical role awareness in disaster response was reported to be high, nurses reported limited knowledge and awareness of the wider emergency and disaster preparedness plans, including key elements of their hospital strategies for managing a mass gathering disaster. Over half of the emergency nurses in Mecca's public hospitals had not thoroughly read the plan, and almost 1 in 10 were not even aware of its existence. Emergency nurses reported seeing their main role as providing timely general clinical assessment and care; however, fewer emergency nurses saw their role as providing surveillance, prevention, leadership or psychological care in a mass gathering disaster, despite all these broader roles being described in the hospitals' emergency disaster response plans. Emergency nurses' responses to topics where there are often misconceptions on appropriate disaster management indicated a significant knowledge deficit with only 1 in 3 nurses at best or 1 in 6 at worst giving correct answers. Respondents identified 3 key training initiatives as opportunities to further develop their professional skills in this area: (1) hospital education sessions, (2) the Emergency Management Saudi Course, (3) bespoke short courses in disaster management. Recommendations are suggested to help enhance clinical and educational efforts in disaster preparedness.

Alzahrani F ，Kyratsis Y 《BMJ Open》