Title. Disaster preparedness among Hong Kong nurses. Aim. This paper is a report of a survey to explore Hong Kong nurses' disaster preparedness. Background. Increasingly frequent global disasters are posing threats to human health and life. The World Health Organization has called for countries to have detailed plans at all levels in order to be prepared for disasters that may arise. Method. A questionnaire was distributed to convenience samples of practising Registered Nurses studying in Master's degree programmes at a Hong Kong university in 2007. Results. Of a possible 174, 164 questionnaires were returned (Response rate 94%). Almost all nurses (97AE6%) considered the government health department to be the organization most involved in disastrous situations. The majority (84AE8%) were aware of the existence of a protocol on disaster management at their workplace. About one-third would respond in accordance with protocol (38AE4%) or rely on directions from their immediate supervisors (34AE8%) if a disaster occurred. Almost all the nurses (97%) considered themselves not adequately prepared for disasters. They recognized that a protocol for disaster management (85AE4%) and training and drills for disasters (both 84AE1%) are useful tools. Conclusion. Nurses in Hong Kong are not adequately prepared for disasters, but are aware of the need for such preparation. Disaster management training should be included in the basic education of nurses.

The purpose of this study was to explore Hong Kong nurses’ perceptions of competencies required for disaster nursing. Focus group interviews and written inquiry were adopted to solicit nurses’ perceived required competencies for disaster care. A total of 15 nurses were interviewed and 30 nurses completed the written inquiry on their perceived competencies related to disaster nursing. The International Council for Nurses’ (ICN) framework of disaster nursing competencies, consisting of four themes and ten domains, was used to tabulate the perceived competencies for disaster nursing reported by nurses. The most mentioned required competencies were related to disaster response; with the ethical and legal competencies for disaster nursing were mostly neglected by nurses in Hong Kong. With the complexity nature of disasters, special competencies are required if nurses are to deal with adverse happenings in their serving community. Nurses’ perceived disaster nursing competencies reported by nurses were grossly inadequate, demonstrating the needs to develop a comprehensive curriculum for public health. The establishment of a set of tailor-made disaster nursing core competencies for the community they served is the first step in preparing nurses to deal with disastrous situations for the health of the public.

This study adds evidence to existing literature on Watson's theory-guided design and implementation of caring initiatives for community rehabilitation and has laid the groundwork for developing further evidencebased research in leisure art-based caring occasions for promoting holistic well-being in stroke rehabilitation.

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The training program can be used for preparing generalist nurses of their nursing competencies in disaster preparedness, response and post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation.