Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding Disaster Preparedness among Undergraduate Nursing Students

Abstract

Background: Disaster is "the sudden onset of an event that disrupts regular living conditions and causes severe suffering, increasing the impact of community maladaptation. Nurses’ knowledge and understanding of disaster management can play an important role in reducing casualties and complications. Objective: This study aimed to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice about disaster preparedness and its association with demographic variables among undergraduate nursing students. Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at two institutes, Ziauddin University Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Karachi, and Benazir College of Nursing, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University, Larkana, Pakistan. This study was conducted among 175 nursing students of semester-II and IV from July 2021 to March 2022; the sample size was determined by using OpenEpi version 3.0. The target population was approached by a non-probability consecutive sampling method. A pretested, validated, and self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22, independent t-test, and ANOVA were used for inferential analysis. Results: Most (63.43%) of the participant’s age was between 21-30 years, majority of them were females (58.29%) with 1–10 years of clinical experience (84.57%). The highest mean and standard deviation were identified among 31–40 years of age; the variables are knowledge, attitude, and practice (6.32±2.5), (5.7±2.05), and (6.37±2.2), respectively. The clinical practice was found to be significant with a p-value < 0.05. Conclusion: It is concluded that undergraduate nursing students elicit a moderate level of knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding disaster preparedness. Knowledge, attitude, and practice can be improved by organizing periodic training sessions at the undergraduate level.