Abstract
As future healthcare professionals, nursing students should possess the appropriate knowledge, skills, and positive attitude to respond to public health emergencies or disasters worldwide. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a disaster management training course at improving Hong Kong nursing students’ disaster knowledge, willingness, and perceived ability. A mixed-method design using a single group with pre- and post-intervention comparisons followed by qualitative focus group interviews, was conducted. A 45-h disaster management training course with theoretical and practical inputs was conducted. A total of 157 students participated in and completed the pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. Positive significant results in disaster knowledge (t(156) = −8.12, p < 0.01, d = −0.84) and perceived ability (t(156) = −7.95, p < 0.01, d = −0.72) were found, but no substantial change in willingness to respond to disasters was observed. The participants expressed various concerns regarding their willingness to respond, which can be summarized and grouped as (1) personal risk perceptions, (2) contextual factors of the disaster events, and (3) organizational support. Incorporating disaster training into the tertiary education curricula for basic nursing professionals’ training could be a long-term strategy to prepare and expand the competent workforce for future disasters. Government or healthcare organizations are recommended to provide strategies and adequate support to alleviate nursing professionals’ concerns and enhance their willingness.
Highlights
The increasing trend of unpredictable natural or human-caused disasters worldwide has provoked extreme human health, economic, and environmental impacts in recent years.Healthcare professionals’ capacity and obligation to provide services during public health emergencies or disasters are indispensable elements of disaster management
This study evaluated the effectiveness of disaster education for undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge, willingness, and perceived ability
The participants demonstrated significant improvement in disaster knowledge and perceived ability but no substantial change in willingness to respond to disasters
Summary
Healthcare professionals’ capacity and obligation to provide services during public health emergencies or disasters are indispensable elements of disaster management. Being the largest group of healthcare professionals, nurses play a crucial role in providing direct care for victims in hospitals and responding to individuals’ and communities’ needs, especially during disasters [1]. The nursing faculty should establish a disaster education and training program as a priority and make the necessary preparations to build up nurses’ competence in responding to disasters [1]. Over the past two decades, healthcare organizations and universities have endeavored to develop a specialized educational framework for healthcare professionals’ disaster competencies [1,2,3,4,5,6,7].
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