Nurses' competencies in disaster nursing: Implications for curriculum development and public health

Jean Tak Alice Loke Yuen, Wai Man Olivia Fung

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

75 Citations (Scopus)

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3289-3303
Number of pages15
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume11
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Mar 2014

Keywords

  • Competencies
  • Disaster nursing
  • Disaster nursing curriculum

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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