Issues raised by nurses and midwives in a post-disaster Bantul community

Abstract

Purpose -Bantul in Central Java was the most severely damaged area by a devastating earthquake in May 2006. Even after being victims themselves, nurses and midwives at public health centers worked devotedly. The purpose of this paper is to identify the nurses' and midwives' perceptions and understanding of their roles, as well as the needs of training in disaster preparedness and management. Design/methodology/approach -Focus group discussions and questionnaire survey were conducted with 11 nurses and 11 midwives of public health centers in Bantul. Content analysis was applied to analyze transcripts of the focus group discussions and the responses to questionnaire. Findings -Health care for survivors and community were provided by highly committed health professionals supported in strong community resilience. Donors driven relief programs tended to be unorganized and insensitive for local health providers. Besides, organized disaster management trainings are strongly needed to develop disaster nursing and preparedness. Research limitations/implications -Embedded problems of local health system and current nursing practice were highlighted. Originality/value -Focus group discussions provided vital information that can and must be used to improve disaster response capabilities. Moreover, it was equally it is crucial to examine carefully what unfolded during post-disaster intervention.

The role and scope of practice of midwives in humanitarian settings: a systematic review and content analysis

“…Six of the seven papers reporting on the response phase of an emergency [43, 48–51] and a paper which detailed the response and recovery phases [49] discussed the role of midwives in providing maternal and newborn health services. Midwives were reported as being involved in births at both health facilities and in women’s homes [42, 46, 48, 50, 51]. Birthing at home was often supported by midwifery staff when access to facilities was compromised by ongoing conflict [42, 49, 50].…”

The changing health priorities of earthquake response and implications for preparedness: a scoping review

“…As observed, one common vulnerability identified was the lack of disaster management training for staff 34,47,53,66,78,115 . Our review also highlighted a lack of disaster exercise or testing of plans.…”

“…In addition it was also reported that staff may themselves be emotionally affected by their own personal earthquake experiences 75,115 and feel ill prepared to respond to patient needs 53 . Indeed, some healthcare staff were reported to have poor mental health outcomes afterwards 76,122 , particularly those working in public sector healthcare settings 121 .…”

“…Rehabilitation staff were also considered to play an important role in facilitating patient discharge 5 . The means to care and support staff were also highlighted as important with reports of staff being negatively affected through both the earthquake and their work in responding to it 53,75,76,115,121,122 .…”

“…Patients travelled to functioning healthcare facilities on the periphery of areas most impacted by earthquakes, increasing demands on these services 42,113 , with some patients travelling great distances to access treatment 61,113 . The ability to respond immediately following an earthquake, through the provision of surge capacity, was often limited by the availability of physical resources 25,35,40,51,100,108 including access to both medications 25,48,114,115 and medical equipment 25,44,48,49,114 Policies requiring the development of health service disaster planning were often not implemented at a local level leading to a preparedness gap 116 . Consequently, in some of the earthquake disasters, health systems experienced multiple disruptions such as cold chain failure that compromised preventative healthcare including tetanus immunisations 40 .…”