Preparation and Planning
Actions taken apart from any specific emergency to increase readiness and confidence in actions to be taken during an event.
Nurses play an important role in preparing and planning for large-scale public health threats. Examples include educating patients and communities about disaster preparedness, training nursing staff on infection control practices, and drafting emergency response plans. Having a nursing workforce skilled in disaster and pandemic preparedness and planning can help ensure swift, coordinated, and effective responses that can reduce the impacts of these events on patients and communities.
Preparation and planning accounts for actions that nurses, nursing institutions, and health organizations take prior to a disaster to increase their capacity and ability to respond. These actions focus on improving nurse readiness and confidence to respond in high-stress, disaster environments.
Academic Articles and Books
What should public health nurses do in the preparedness phase of disaster? – Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences (2021)
https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2021.7675
- Reviews public health nurses’ perceptions of key skills in preparing for disasters.
Disaster preparedness among nurses of developing countries: an integrative review – International Emergency Nursing (2021)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ienj.2020.100955
- Discusses disaster nursing preparedness in developing countries and provides suggestions for avenues that could increase workforce preparedness.
Disaster Nursing and Emergency Preparedness for Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Terrorism and Other Hazards – Springer (publisher) (2019)
https://books.google.com/books?id=WA5lDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover
- Provides a deep dive into the practice of disaster nursing in times of emergency.
Nurses’ Readiness for Emergencies and Public Health Challenges—The Case of Saudi Arabia – Sustainability (2020)
https://doi.org/10.3390/su12197874
- Assesses the readiness of 200 emergency nurses in the southern part of Saudi Arabia in the management of public health emergencies, major incidents, and disasters, and makes recommendations for educational opportunities to improve nurses’ knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Guidance and Training Documents
The FNP’s role in disaster nursing and emergency preparedness – AdventHealth University (AHU) (2021)
https://online.ahu.edu/blog/disaster-nursing-and-emergency-preparedness/
- Describes the roles of family nurse practitioners in disaster preparedness and provides resources.
National preparedness training and education – Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/national-preparedness/training
- Provides training and education materials on national preparedness from FEMA. While not all tools are directly applicable to disaster nursing, there are many cross-cutting areas.
Integrating Emergency Preparedness and Response into Undergraduate Nursing Curricula – World Health Organization (WHO) (2008)
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/integrating-emergency-preparedness-and-response-into-undergraduate-nursing-curricula
- Details how to integrate preparedness training into international nursing curricula.
Webinars, Podcasts, and Other New Media
Disaster nursing and emergency preparedness – Unbound Medicine (2016)
https://youtu.be/mgBIJs3Lhxo
- Overviews the need for emergency preparedness among those practicing disaster nursing.
Resource Pages
Disaster preparedness – American Nurses Association (ANA)
https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/health-safety/disaster-preparedness/
- Lists disaster preparedness resources and education opportunities for nurses.
Disaster preparedness – National Association of School Nurses (NASN)
https://www.nasn.org/nasn-resources/practice-topics/disaster-preparedness
- Provides NASN and other internet resources on disaster preparedness.
Emergency preparedness & response resources – Oregon Nurses Association
https://www.oregonrn.org/page/192/Emergency-Preparedness--Response-.htm
- Lists state, federal, and other online resources for emergency preparedness and response.
Resources and links – Society for the Advancement of Disaster Nursing
https://disasternursing.org/resources-and-links/
- Lists resources, organizations, and trainings on public health emergencies and natural disasters.
Ready.gov – US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (2022)
https://www.ready.gov/
- Public service campaign to educate people to prepare for, respond to, and mitigate emergencies, including natural and manmade disasters.
Project ECHO – University of New Mexico
https://hsc.unm.edu/echo/what-we-do/focus-areas-health.html
- Describes the knowledge-sharing ECHO model that brings together specialists from multiple focus areas to provide learning, mentoring, and peer support in healthcare and other disciplines.
