Do Hospital Workers Feel They Are Ready to Manage a Sanitary Crisis in a Pre-Crisis Context?

The aim of this study was to measure the perception of readiness to manage a sanitary crisis for hospital workers and to study the factors related to this perception.

This study was a cross-sectional study; 408 French hospital workers responded to an online questionnaire. The variables studied concerned the perceived personal preparedness, the perception of colleagues' and hospital's preparedness, perception of the situation, and preparatory behavioral acts. Correlations, partial correlations, and multiple linear regressions were applied.

Based on Pearson's correlations, the higher the participants' sense of personal efficacy and control over their behavior, the more ready they feel (r = 0.77*** and r = 0.55***). The more participants perceive their colleagues as ready and their hospital as prepared, the more ready they feel (r = 0.52*** and r = 0.46***). Based on Pearson's partial correlations, upon controlling the effect of preparedness perception, declared preparedness is not significantly correlated with personal readiness perception (r = 0.01).

The perception of personal readiness does not depend only on actual preparedness but also on individual and collective variables. Technically, these results confirm the value of relying on psychosocial variables during training. It would be interesting to propose empowerment in training courses. It also seems necessary to demonstrate crisis management efficacy at different levels: institutional, collective, and individual.