National Assessment of Nursing Schools and Nurse Educators Readiness for Radiation Emergencies and Nuclear Events

Abstract

Nurses will play a crucial role in responding to a public health emergency resulting from nuclear war or other large-scale release of radiation into the environment and in supporting the National Health Security Strategy. Schools of nursing are ultimately responsible for developing a competent nursing workforce prepared to assess a population’s public health emergency needs and respond to these low-frequency but high-impact events. This responsibility includes the provision of specific content and training regarding how to respond and care for patients and communities in the event of a nuclear or radiation emergency. To date, however, there has been a lack of empirical evidence focusing specifically on nursing schools’ capacity to prepare nurses for radiation emergencies and nuclear events, as well as perception of risk. This study employed a cross-sectional survey administered to a nationwide sample of nursing school administrators and faculty to assess content, faculty expertise, planning, and perception of risk related to radiation emergencies and nuclear events.

Impact of COVID-19 on School Populations and Associated Factors: A Systematic Review

“…Among the reasons for the exclusion of 25 articles from the qualitative synthesis were; the research was not conducted empirically (e.g., review or report) or the main focus of the research was not on the impact of health crises on school populations. For example, a study by Veenema et al was excluded because the study only discussed nursing school and nursing educator preparedness for radiation emergencies [ 30 ], while the impact of nuclear events on the school population was not discussed or measured in the study. The flow of this systematic review process is explained in Figure 1 .…”

Diagnostics of care about environment: A systematic review through nursing taxonomies

“…Sentinel events or natural disaster emergencies are especially relevant to this field (Green & Polk, 2009). Studies by Goodwin and colleagues have deepened the nurse's role in radiation treatment, nuclear disasters or Zika infection in pregnant women (Lavin et al, 2019;Veenema et al, 2019;Veenema & Thornton, 2015).…”

Healthcare Impacts Associated with Federally Declared Disasters—Hurricanes Gustave and Ike

“…Preliminary studies of mapping capabilities related to disaster risks indicated there is considerable publicly available data on environmental hazards and natural disasters, but a lack of knowledge of the risks and necessary response by healthcare providers [ 32 , 33 , 34 ]. For example, Veenema et al [ 34 ] identified a full list of U.S. nuclear power sites, including nuclear power reactors and nuclear research and test reactors. [US Nuclear Regulatory Commission].…”

“…The faculty (18%) said they would teach it if there were content developed by experts. A total of 53% of respondents answered incorrectly when asked if they were within an emergency planning zone of a nuclear reactor [ 34 ].…”