Are nurses ready?

Summary 

Background

The impact of disasters is believed to be increasing internationally, and nurses are more likely to be confronted with a need to provide nursing care to victims affected by disaster. The evidence-base of disaster health in the acute setting is very limited, both in Australia and internationally. This review identifies key themes and issues identified in recent disaster healthcare research literature.

Methods

Sixteen research articles were reviewed. A number of Flinders University Library databases were searched for relevant articles. Reference lists of original papers and grey literature were searched for additional research papers, and availability followed up on the Flinders University online library of journals.

Results

Four major themes that most frequently featured in disaster health research were identified. These included nurse education in disaster response; nurse (including students) issues, concerns, attitudes and perceived preparedness for disaster response; disaster planning in acute settings; and surge capacities of acute settings.

Conclusions

Disaster events, both natural and man-made have become of increasing concern to health care workers, particularly nurses, in recent years. Research highlights that education in disaster response, disaster plans and surge capacity are generally not well implemented or standardised in the acute setting. While research identifies gaps in disaster preparedness in Australian and international acute settings, it is difficult to make clear recommendations for improvement without further, more focussed research.

Keywords: Disasters, Disaster planning, Disaster medicine, Mass casualty event, Emergency nursing, Nursing education