A Survey Study of Public Health Nurses’ Knowledge in Disaster Management in Indonesia

Abstract

AIM: This descriptive survey study examines the level of public health nurses’ (PHNs) knowledge regarding disaster management. The knowledge was examined according to three disaster phases, including preparedness, response, and recovery phase.
 MATERIALS & METHODS: A stratified proportionate random sampling method was employed to recruit 252 PHNs of Aceh Province, Indonesia. The data were collected during November and December of 2010 by using the questionnaire developed by the researchers. They were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, and minimum and maximum scores. Additional analyses were performed to identify potential contributing factors to the PHNs' knowledge using the Spearman rank correlation (rs) and the Mann-Whitney U test.
 RESULTS: The finding showed that PHNs' knowledge in disaster management was moderate (M=70.73%, SD=8.41), and nearly half of the subjects (42.5%) were categorized in this level. The lowest mean score was found in the response phase (64.75%), and four items with the lowest percentage of correct answers were also found in this phase.
 CONCLUSION: The low level of knowledge for the response phase can be used to flag health policymakers and public health centers (PHC) to develop appropriate educational training and disaster drills for PHNs in collaboration with stakeholders in the community.