Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore Hong Kong nurses’ perceptions of competencies required for disaster nursing. Focus group interviews and written inquiry were adopted to solicit nurses’ perceived required competencies for disaster care. A total of 15 nurses were interviewed and 30 nurses completed the written inquiry on their perceived competencies related to disaster nursing. The International Council for Nurses’ (ICN) framework of disaster nursing competencies, consisting of four themes and ten domains, was used to tabulate the perceived competencies for disaster nursing reported by nurses. The most mentioned required competencies were related to disaster response; with the ethical and legal competencies for disaster nursing were mostly neglected by nurses in Hong Kong. With the complexity nature of disasters, special competencies are required if nurses are to deal with adverse happenings in their serving community. Nurses’ perceived disaster nursing competencies reported by nurses were grossly inadequate, demonstrating the needs to develop a comprehensive curriculum for public health. The establishment of a set of tailor-made disaster nursing core competencies for the community they served is the first step in preparing nurses to deal with disastrous situations for the health of the public.
Highlights
With disasters occurring more frequently threatening people around the world, the need to prepare nurses for disaster has never been greater [1]
It is reflected that there were quite a number of studies have focused on disaster response, there are some studies conducted in Hong Kong on the disaster preparedness of families with young children [15] and elderly people [16] in Hong Kong
This study explored the perceived disaster competencies of Hong Kong nurses and provides the needed background to inform educational needs
Summary
With disasters occurring more frequently threatening people around the world, the need to prepare nurses for disaster has never been greater [1]. Nurses should be equipped with the necessary knowledge and abilities to work in a disaster and to meet the needs of the respective serving community. More than 80% of nurses who volunteered to serve for a disaster event had no previous experience in disaster response [2]. It was recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) that all nations, no matter how frequent (or infrequent) the happenings, should prepare healthcare workers for a disaster. Most nurses were inadequately prepared for disaster [3]. It is only through education and training can nurses can be equipped with the competencies required during disasters
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