Disaster preparedness and core competencies among emergency nurses: A cross-sectional study

Aim: With the rise in frequency and severity of disasters in recent decades, it is essentially important that nurses must be adequately prepared to handle them. This study was aimed to evaluate the levels of disaster core competencies and preparedness of nurses in the emergency department. Design: A cross-sectional survey design was used. Methods: This cross-sectional research was conducted from August 2020 to December 2020 among 271 nurses in the emergency departments of six hospitals in Qazvin, Iran. The participants completed the Nurses Perceptions of Disaster Core Competencies Scale (NPDCC) (45 items) and the disaster preparedness (a single-item visual scale). Data were analysed by one-way analysis of variance, independent t-tests and multiple linear regression analysis. Results: The mean scores of disaster preparedness and core competencies of nurses were 6.75 out of 10 (SD = 1.63) and 2.88 out of 5 (SD = 0.80), respectively. Technical skills (mean = 3.24, SD = 0.91) were the highest and communication skills (mean = 2.57, SD = 0.95) were the lowest across the subscales of the scale. A significant association was found between disaster core competencies and preparedness of nurses (p < .001). Regression analysis results indicated that nursing disaster core competencies were perceived betted by older nurses (B = -0.405) who had experience in the disaster stage (B = 0.228) and nurses with disaster response experience (B = 0.223) and lower professional experience (B = 0.309). Nurses with a postdiploma degree (B = -0.480) and bachelor's degree (B = -0.416) were perceived to have lower disaster core competency than nurses with a master's or PhD degree. Conclusion: There are still gaps in disaster preparedness and core competencies for emergency nurses that need to be addressed. Nursing managers must support an improvement in nursing disaster core competencies. This may be done by conducting sessions for routine disaster scenarios and providing formal disaster preparedness training.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the levels of disaster core competencies and preparedness among nurses in the emergency department in six hospitals in Qazvin, Iran. The results showed that there are gaps in disaster preparedness and core competencies for emergency nurses, with communication skills being the lowest. Older nurses with disaster experience and less professional experience perceived better disaster core competencies.