Nurses’ Competencies in Disaster Nursing: Implications for Curriculum Development and Public Health

Abstract

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.

Perception and Core Competencies of Disaster Nursing in South Korea

“…education scored 14.82 out of 25 points, which is a similar result with previous studies that were conducted with an emphasis on the importance of disaster nursing education [9,[25][26][27]. In many of the countries, there is a growing trend to establish disaster focused department, to provide education for providers to manage disaster prevention, response, and recovery phases in an integrated manner and to exhibit their leadership in preparation for disasters [28][29][30].…”

Nurses' Preparedness for Disaster in South Khorasan Province, Ian

“…However, the average score of nurses' competency in survival skills and also operational competency are poor in this area, both in our study, as well as some others [11,[18][19][20]. The nurses are not suitably prepared with regard to patients' discharge, operating the required equipment outside the hospitals, using disinfection and personal protection equipment, wearing protective covers, and relevant care in biological and chemical attacks, utilizing communication tools, and even identifying secure places in the geographical region of their duty.…”

“…Nurses' average score was also found moderate in the studies by Oztekin (2016) in Japan, and Chi Tzeng (2016) in Taiwan [19,20]. Nurses' average score is also found weak in the studies conducted in USA, Australia, Hong Kong, and Egypt [9,11,18,21,22]. This difference might be attributed to study topics, setting and regional conditions, the type of hospital, and the way to develop and implement educational programs in relation to disaster preparedness.…”

“…It is also possible to strengthen the power of the nurses in disasters by planning and implementing the retraining programs, executing staff rotation shifts in ICU and emergency rooms, and also supporting nurses to promote their capabilities in response to disasters [5]. It is also necessary to insist on disasters nursing cares in the training courses of the nurses, and by using educational proper strategies such as exercises and simulating the crisis situations, promote the nurses' preparedness to response in disasters [11].…”

“…The study by Ghanbari et al showed that 80.7% of nurses are not trained for such situations [6]. The studies in Hong Kong [11], Jordan [4], Singapore [12], and Egypt [9] have also reported nurses' insufficient preparedness in disasters. Dolatabadi et al mentioned insufficient knowledge and unpreparedness as the causes of emotional stresses meddling with nurses' tasks in such situations; they believed that nurses' preparedness for responding in disasters helped them to boost their confidence, and reduce the loses and vulnerabilities in confronting with unpredictable incidents [13].…”