The Critical Role of Nurses and Midwives in Disasters

Abstract

Introduction:The critical role that nurses and midwives undertake during disasters has received significant attention in recent years. Nurses globally have faced multiple disasters, often occurring within months of each other and even overlapping. Within the past decade, on a global scale, nurses and midwives have experienced two Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC) (SARS-CoV-2 and Monkeypox), the devastating and ongoing conflict in Ukraine and an unprecedented number of international natural hazards that have impacted them personally and professionally.Method:A discussion with frontline nurses and midwives provided insight into the challenges of delivering health care during disasters.Results:The results revealed that while there is some information available about disaster care and the role nurses play, there is minimal information about how nurses and midwives are personally affected by disasters impacting their own communities. Disaster nursing is a relatively new area of health care practice and is rarely taught at an undergraduate or workplace level.Three opportunities for improving/acknowledging the critical role of nurses and midwives during disasters include: 1)Acknowledging that the involvement of nurses and midwives is critical to any disaster response2)Promoting the importance of a nursing voice within the emergency management sector3)Structural reforms be urgently adopted to address workforce sustainability including addressing gender inequality4)These three approaches form only a part of the reform required to address the key roles that nurses and midwives perform during disasters.Conclusion:The ongoing pandemic has placed severe stress on an already overstretched nursing workforce, now is the right time to empower and support our nurses. In all aspects of emergency and disaster management nurses and midwives are at the frontline. Greater acknowledgement of the value nurses bring and the sacrifices they make in serving their communities will strengthen nurses’ commitment and resolve in tackling future crises.