Abstract
BackgroundMajor incidents continue to pose a threat to health care systems by overwhelming them with a sudden surge of patients. A major factor impacting a hospital's surge capacity is the skills, abilities, and knowledge of emergency department (ED) registered nurses (RN). The level of disaster nursing competency they possess affects patient safety and outcome. ED RNs' ability to accurately assess their competency and knowledge is imperative for mitigating the effect of major incidents. ED RN’s perception of overall disaster preparedness has not been thoroughly addressed. The aim of this study was to assess emergency department registered nurses' self-perceived disaster preparedness. MethodThe study was a cross-sectional study per the STROBE checklist. A self-assessment questionnaire based on the results of a study identifying specific disaster nursing competencies for ED RNs was distributed to all ED RNs at six participating hospitals between January 10th to February 19th of 2019. A five-point Likert-type scale was used to assess competency. ResultsED RNs’ disaster preparedness according to the Total Disaster Competency mean was low. Furthermore, the results indicate that ED RNs’ significantly overestimate their disaster nursing competency when compared to the Total Disaster Competency mean. Additionally, this study identified factors such as experience and education were positively associated with disaster preparedness and self-assessment ability. ConclusionED RNs’ overestimate their disaster preparedness. However, ED RNs with experience and education may be better prepared. ED RNs with formal disaster education appeared to have better insight concerning their preparedness. Clinical experience, advanced levels of education, and training were positively associated with preparedness. Overestimating disaster competencies may negatively impact patient outcomes during a major incident.
Highlights
Major incidents continue to pose a threat to health care systems by overwhelming them with a sudden surge of patients
The study population according to emergency department (ED) management was comprised of a total of 372 registered nurses (RN) employed at the six participating EDs
The majority of the nurses (70.4%) were between the ages of 26–44. 65% percent of nurses had more than five years of nursing experience. 40% percent of the participants reported having prior major incident experience. 30% of the RNs had advanced degrees within a variety of specialties
Summary
Major incidents continue to pose a threat to health care systems by overwhelming them with a sudden surge of patients. A major factor impacting a hospital’s surge capacity is the skills, abilities, and knowledge of emergency department (ED) registered nurses (RN). ED RNs’ ability to accurately assess their competency and knowledge is imperative for mitigating the effect of major incidents. The aim of this study was to assess emergency department registered nurses’ selfperceived disaster preparedness. This study identified factors such as experience and education were positively associated with disaster preparedness and self-assessment ability. Overestimating disaster competencies may negatively impact patient outcomes during a major incident. Front-line responders, such as emergency department (ED) registered nurses’ (RN) skills, knowledge and abilities are essential for providing quality care and minimizing excess morbidity and mor tality [11,12,13]. A sudden surge of patients to EDs places responsibility on frontline responders often requiring RNs to quickly adapt to meet needs from a wide variety of events as stipulated by the all-hazards approach utilized in disaster response plans [9,14]
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