Jordanian Nurses' Perceived Disaster Preparedness: Factors Influencing Successful Planning

Depression, anxiety, stress, and job performance among Turkish nurses in the early post-earthquake period

BACKGROUND

Individual and social concerns can negatively affect nurses' mental health during a large-scale earthquake's early stages, making it challenging to perform their professional responsibilities.

AIM

This cross-sectional correlational study aimed to examine the relationship between depression, anxiety, and stress levels Turkish nurses experienced during an earthquake's early period. The nurses participating in this study were not directly present in the earthquake-affected area.

METHODS

The study was conducted on 232 nurses between February 10 and 25, 2023. The data were collected using the Depression, Anxiety, Stress-21 Scale and the Job Performance Evaluation Form developed by the researchers through a literature review. These were used to investigate nurses' work motivation changes due to the earthquake. The study followed the STROBE checklist for cross-sectional studies.

RESULTS

The participants' depression levels were severe, anxiety levels were extremely severe, and stress levels were moderate following the earthquake. Nurses who felt exhausted experienced reduced energy levels toward their work and reported a decrease in their desire, effort, and work motivation to perform well. In addition, they had higher depression, anxiety, and stress scores (p < 0.005).

CONCLUSION

Psychological difficulties, including depression, anxiety, and stress experienced by nurses not directly present in an earthquake-affected area, reduced their professional efforts and motivation and negatively affected the patient care process. Further studies should focus on conducting comparative studies in different cultures affected by natural disasters on the longitudinal analysis of the impacts of nurses' psychological distress on their job performance.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

Nursing policymakers should be aware of the negative psychological effects experienced by nurses during the early post-earthquake period, even if they are not directly present in the earthquake-affected area. The study recommended that nurses should be provided with psychological support to deal with the negative effects of natural disasters and maintain job performance, including the nursing care process.

Relationship between disaster preparedness perception, self-efficacy, and psychological capital among Turkish nurses

BACKGROUND

Although disasters continue to increase all over the world and international nursing organizations warn nurses to be ready for disasters, it is stated that the training of nurses for disasters is inadequate in Turkey as in many countries, and studies on this subject are limited AIM: This study aimed to explore the relationship between disaster preparedness perception, self-efficacy, and psychological capital among Turkish nurses.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted with 270 nurses working at a university hospital in Turkey from May 2023 to December 2023.

RESULTS

The mean Disaster Preparedness Perception Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, and Psychological Capital Questionnaire scores of the nurses were 73.19 ± 11.06, 31.24 ± 3.89, and 98.05 ± 11.35, respectively. According to linear regression analysis, self-efficacy, psychological capital, receiving disaster training, and being exposed to disaster were significant predictive factors that affected disaster preparedness perception.

CONCLUSION

To improve nurses' disaster preparedness, it is vital to strengthen their self-efficacy and psychological capital through various strategies.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY

Managers should identify individual and organizational barriers that affect nurses' readiness for disasters, prepare nurses for all stages of disaster management through continuous training, scenario-based simulation exercises and drills, and create a disaster management culture in the organization.

Assessing disaster mental health preparedness among primary health care physicians of Karnataka, India: Designing and conducting a knowledge, attitude, and practice survey

Background

Disaster mental health is a critical yet neglected aspect in India. Primary care physicians (PCPs) play a crucial role in mitigating mental health challenges following disasters. This study conducted a knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) survey among PCPs in Karnataka to assess their disaster mental health preparedness.

Methods

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted from February to May 2023 targeting PCPs across 29 districts of Karnataka in a convenient snowball sampling method. The questionnaire review included KAP questions on disaster mental healthcare. A total of 324 PCPs responded.

Results

Knowledge scores were moderate (mean: 7.05), attitudes were positive (mean: 9.15), and practices were poor (mean: 0.32). Significant correlations were found between clinical experience and knowledge/attitudes/practices (rho 0.358, P < 0.001; rho 0.147, P = 0.007; rho 0.232, P = 0.003).

Conclusion

There is a large gap between theoretical knowledge and practical preparedness in disaster mental health. Training programs and government initiatives are essential to improve preparedness among PCPs.

Enhancing Nurses' Disaster Management and Preparedness: Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Online Educational Program Through a Quasi-Experimental Study

Background

Disaster management is an ongoing international concern, and nurses play essential roles in minimizing negative impacts on the health of communities. However, many nurses have limited knowledge and skills on how to respond to disasters effectively. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a newly developed educational program on improving nurses' disaster management and preparedness.

Methods and Design

A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 88 nurses working at a public hospital. The educational program included six modules covering various aspects of disaster management. Pre-and post-tests were administered to evaluate changes in perceptions of disaster management competencies. Independent sample t-test, Pearson coefficient correlation, and One-way ANOVA tests were all run using SPSS.

Results

A significant proportion of nurses (78.4%) reported ongoing training in disaster management, while a smaller percentage (21.6%) expressed a contrary opinion. Nurses also had a moderate level of agreement with the disaster preparedness program (Pretest: 2.26 ± 0.34; post-test: 2.29 ± 0.31). Further, the results showed small improvements in nursing perceptions of the operational plan after the educational program (Pretest: M=2.76, SD=0.63; Post-test: M=2.89, SD=0.44), although the differences between pre-and-post assessments were not significant (P > 0.05). The mean values for overall familiarity in the pre-test were 3.16 ± 1.39, while in the post-test, they slightly increased to 3.26 ± 1.18. The findings also showed no statistically significant differences reported in nurses' attitudes and familiarity towards disaster preparedness based on the gender, marital status, nationality, working shifts, and working hours variables (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

This study demonstrated the significance of providing nurses with the essential knowledge that helps respond to disasters. Online educational programs can help improve nurses' preparedness to better manage disasters. Future research should investigate additional variables that could enhance nurses' knowledge and skills related to disaster response.

Experiences of operating room nurses in disaster preparedness of a great disaster in Iran: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

In recent years, Iran has encountered a growing frequency of earthquake disasters. Given that nurses constitute the largest group of healthcare providers, it is imperative that they possess adequate disaster preparedness skills, irrespective of the location or time. Despite the operating room nurses' roles in disasters, their experiences and challenges in disaster preparedness have been overlooked. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate the experiences, challenges, perspectives, and factors influencing the disaster preparedness of operating room nurses during the 2017 earthquake in Kermanshah, Iran.

METHODS

The present qualitative research was carried out in Iran In 2022 utilizing conventional content analysis. The study involved conducting semi-structured interviews with 16 operating room nurses who had participated in disaster preparedness during the Kermanshah earthquake. The participants were selected using a purposive sampling approach that aimed to achieve maximum diversity. The interviews were continued until the point of data saturation was reached, and the verbatim transcripts were analyzed using conventional content analysis in MAXQDA software. To ensure the rigor of the research, Guba and Lincoln's criteria were employed.

RESULTS

The study conducted data analysis to identify the main theme as "insufficient disaster preparedness due to a faded preparedness", along with six major categories and eighteen subcategories related to earthquake disaster preparedness. The major categories included: knowledge and perception of preparedness for disasters; educational and training programs for disaster preparedness; equipment preparedness for disasters; managerial-organizational preparedness for disasters; clinical skills for responding to disasters; and resilient ability in disaster response situations.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the study provide valuable insights into the dimensions of disaster preparedness in earthquake disasters among operating room nurses. Nursing managers can utilize these findings to develop effective strategies and provide support in areas such as improving knowledge and educational level, equipment preparedness, strengthening plans and managerial structures, enhancing skills, and explaining resilience strategies to improve the disaster preparedness of operating room nurses and medical organizations' disaster response teams.