Emergency nurses' knowledge of disaster procedures/management

• Main Author: Haney, Starre Ann
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-1996
• Subjects: Disaster recovery; Emergency services; Nursing
• ISBN: 9798206520859

Emergency nurses have a major role in any disaster and must have the knowledge, organizational skills and leadership abilities to fulfill their responsibilities. To assess knowledge a questionnaire was distributed to a sample of thirteen hundred Emergency Nursing Association members. The purpose of the survey was to identify the knowledge of emergency nurses of disaster procedures and management. In addition, the relationship between emergency nurses' participating in disaster planning, disaster drills or mass casualty incident experience and disaster knowledge was explored. Five hundred and twenty six nurses responded. The Disaster Knowledge and Management Questionnaire was developed by the author and consisted of knowledge questions regarding disaster procedures and disaster management. Three faculty members of the College of Nursing, Arizona State University, reviewed the questionnaire which was subsequently pilot tested by four Registered Nurses with varying amounts of disaster experience, education, and emergency nursing experience. Significant differences were found between nurses with and without disaster planning experience and nurses with and without disaster drill experience occurred on the disaster management score variable. Nurses with disaster planning or disaster drill experience scored higher on the disaster management scale. In addition, those nurses with mass casualty incident experience and disaster planning experience scored higher on the disaster management scale. A positive correlation between years of experience and the disaster management score indicated that nurses with more years of experience tended to have higher disaster management scores. Nurses with certification in emergency nursing scored higher on both the disaster procedure and disaster management scales than nurses without certification. Further study of nurses with and without disaster planning experience is indicated to further define the knowledge needs of emergency nursing. Certification in emergency nursing as an additional component enhancing the disaster knowledge of emergency nurses is an area for further research.