Experiences of nurse leaders surviving Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Abstract

Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans, Louisiana, USA destroyed by its impact on 29 August 2005. Working during a hurricane was nothing new to these authors. Having lived in New Orleans all our lives, we were used to preparing our homes and our families to weather the storm. Nurses are in leadership positions before, during, and after any disaster. Nurses are called upon to report to duty, leaving their loved ones to care for themselves while the nurses care for the sick and frail in unbelievably difficult situations. The purpose of this article is to share our experiences as nurse survivors during Hurricane Katrina, reflecting on 10 major aspects of disaster planning from the perspective of the "Then" (during the storm) and the "Now" (current recommendations).

Iranian nurses′ perception of essential competences in disaster response: A qualitative study

“…Therefore, in this kind of situations, nurses besides having a caring role should play the role of a psychiatric nurse in providing emotional care. [44]…”

Non-heat related impacts of climate change on working populations

“…For example, during Hurricane Katrina (USA in 2005), emergency physicians were among the last to evacuate from a devastated New Orleans (44). Lead nurses were expecting to ‘work hard for several days and return home, hot and tired, to life as usual’ (p. 9) (45), not realising that the ‘emergency’ situation would persist for weeks and months afterwards. Hospital staff also faced unexpected challenges during Katrina such as finding a space to rest in an overcrowded hospital, facing armed looters in the hospital pharmacy, and finding ways to feed patients when the hospital kitchen was not operational (45).…”

“…Lead nurses were expecting to ‘work hard for several days and return home, hot and tired, to life as usual’ (p. 9) (45), not realising that the ‘emergency’ situation would persist for weeks and months afterwards. Hospital staff also faced unexpected challenges during Katrina such as finding a space to rest in an overcrowded hospital, facing armed looters in the hospital pharmacy, and finding ways to feed patients when the hospital kitchen was not operational (45). The significant stresses of these working conditions were exacerbated by the lack of communication with family and friends outside the workplace (45).…”

“…Hospital staff also faced unexpected challenges during Katrina such as finding a space to rest in an overcrowded hospital, facing armed looters in the hospital pharmacy, and finding ways to feed patients when the hospital kitchen was not operational (45). The significant stresses of these working conditions were exacerbated by the lack of communication with family and friends outside the workplace (45). Extreme events like Katrina are likely to occur with increasing frequency in a future with climate change, and will represent ‘life-changing experiences’ (p. 9) (45) for all workers involved, rather than being an inconvenience.…”

Perception and Core Competencies of Disaster Nursing in South Korea

“…), mass casualty care, communication, systematization, coordination issues, triage process, psychological issues pertinent in disaster situations, overall role of nurses, role of leadership, assessment of health needs, utilization of personnel and resources and evaluation of provided nursing care and services [7,8]. Numerous studies have mentioned the need for education and training regarding the nurse's own field to care for patients during disaster events that are rarely encountered in the usual practice [9][10][11][12] and countries that have experienced disasters such as the United States and India recognized the severity of the problem and organized discussions and workshops regarding nurse education [13][14][15]. Meanwhile, researches in South Korea are mainly focused on the field of emergency medicine in the response phase during the occurrence of a disaster, and the administrative approach for the maintenance of a disaster management system [16][17][18].…”