Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Mentor

Dr. Angel Queen

Abstract

Emergency situations around the world are inevitable. Any nurse who practices for any period of time is sure to encounter situations like these. Their hospital may be flooded with traumatic and severely life-threatening patient cases where supplies can become scarce. In these situations, a nurse and all other healthcare personnel are expected to act effectively, efficiently and in a highly organized way. Despite this need, many hospitals fail to implement effective disaster preparedness programs and plans. This leaves healthcare workers at a loss for how to treat patients, communicate within and outside of the hospital, coordinate transport, and all the other aspects of caring for patients that become exceedingly challenging in the face of a disaster. Similarly, nursing schools have, in many cases, failed to properly educate new nurses about what to do and expect during a mass casualty incident. Many students walk into jobs and hospitals where they will encounter one of these situations, completely unprepared. Changes are alarmingly and clearly necessary both within the hospital systems as well as in educational systems and programs worldwide. These changes include better preparation for the disaster through drills, and clear plans in place that all personnel are aware of. This change must also include adequate psychological care is available to healthcare workers during and following the traumatic event. In education, schools must prepare students for a disaster event by providing information as well as simulation-based training for students, much in the same way that they educate students on other possible scenarios within their future profession. Nursing is an ever-changing profession. With the gradual increase of disastrous events both in the United States and beyond, the need for a professional and educational overhaul for nursing is glaringly obvious for nurses and healthcare systems to continue responding in the way they are expected to.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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