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Disaster and emergency management: Canadian nurses' perceptions of preparedness on hospital front lines
Tracey L O'Sullivan1, Darcie Dow, Michelle C Turner
1Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. tosulliv@uottawa.ca
Introduction:
Three years following the global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a national, Web-based survey of Canadian nurses was conducted to assess perceptions of preparedness for disasters and access to support mechanisms, particularly for nurses in emergency and critical care units.
Hypotheses:
The following hypotheses were tested: (1) nurses' sense of preparedness for infectious disease outbreaks and naturally occurring disasters will be higher than for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN)-type disasters associated with terrorist attacks; (2) perceptions of preparedness will vary according to previous outbreak experience; and (3) perceptions of personal preparedness will be related to perceived institutional preparedness.
Methods:
Nurses from emergency departments and intensive care units across Canada were recruited via flyer mailouts and e-mail notices to complete a 30-minute online survey.
Results:
A total of 1,543 nurses completed the survey (90% female; 10% male). The results indicate that nurses feel unprepared to respond to large-scale disasters/attacks. The sense of preparedness varied according to the outbreak/disaster scenario with nurses feeling least prepared to respond to a CBRN event. A variety of socio-demographic factors, notably gender, previous outbreak experience (particularly with SARS), full-time vs. part-time job status, and region of employment also were related to perceptions of risk. Approximately 40% of respondents were unaware if their hospital had an emergency plan for a large-scale outbreak. Nurses reported inadequate access to resources to support disaster response capacity and expressed a low degree of confidence in the preparedness of Canadian healthcare institutions for future outbreaks.
Conclusions:
Canadian nurses have indicated that considerably more training and information are needed to enhance preparedness for frontline healthcare workers as important members of the response community.
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