The factors that influenced Australasian emergency nurses to attend their workplace in a disaster were similar to that described in the international multidisciplinary literature. Of particular note, improving disaster knowledge and skills, having a family disaster plan and improving the perceptions of the nurses' workplace preparedness can enhance the nurses' willingness to assist in a disaster.

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Women who have experienced domestic and family violence use health services more frequently than women who have not. Early identification and intervention by the health system may reduce health problems associated with domestic and family violence and lead to savings for the health sector. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a new domestic and family violence screening program, which was based on an ecological model and introduced by a social work team in the Emergency Department of a major metropolitan hospital. The evaluation method included an audit of social work case files to assess the effect on referral rates and a survey of Emergency Department staff to obtain perceptions of the impact of the program on the staff and clients. In the 3-month period following the introduction of the program, the rate of referral to social work increased by 213%. Staff agreed that the Emergency Department is an appropriate place to ask about domestic and family violence, under certain conditions. Findings suggest that an ecological social work model provides an approach to screening for domestic and family violence that not only contributes to increased identification and supportive client interventions but may also contribute to more sustainable systemic change.

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Background: Disaster response is an emergency nursing responsibility. Responding to disasters, however, is hazardous as terrorism, pandemics and chemical industrial accidents challenge the safety of nurses and their families. International experience has shown that nurses can become victims of disasters and that fear of contaminating family and friends may prevent nurses from attending work or returning home during a disaster response. An understanding of the factors that enable or disable their disaster preparedness will underpin future disaster policy and planning for Australian and international health care organizations. Methods: This study examines the willingness of Australian emergency nurses to attend work to respond to a health care disaster, using a 3-phase mixed-method design. Phase 1 was a national online survey, with 451 responses. Phase 2 involved 6 focus groups at 4 hospital sites, with 41 participants and Phase 3 involved in-depth interviews with emergency nurses at different sites, with 11 participants. This presentation will highlight results from the study on the willingness of Australian emergency nurses to respond to a health care disaster. Results: Preliminary findings indicate that emergency nurses' willingness to respond to health care disasters was dependent on a number of factors, including their out-of-work responsibilities, the changes to their roles and responsibilities at work, their confidence in management and their work team, the information they are given about the disaster, the type of disaster and the degree of risk involved. Conclusions:The contribution the findings this study will make to disaster planning and preparedness for nursing staff, health planners and administrators will be outlined.

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