Disaster Nursing Competency of Intensive Care Nurses in Jinan, China: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Patients in disaster areas require the most urgent assistance. In recent large-scale natural disasters, intensive care nurses have served as an important reserve component of disaster response teams. In disaster nursing, ability and attitude directly affect the quality and effectiveness of disaster rescues. However, few studies have examined the disaster nursing competency of intensive care nurses in China.

This study was designed to describe the current status of disaster nursing competency among intensive care nurses, analyze the related factors affecting the disaster response effectiveness, and evaluate the values of disaster nursing continuing education and training in cultivating professional personnel with disaster emergency rescue competence.

This cross-sectional study was conducted at six tertiary general government hospitals in Jinan, Shandong Province, China. A convenience sampling method was adopted, and the Wenjuanxing website was used to compile the network questionnaire, which participants completed via a WeChat group. Descriptive, correlation, and regression analyses were performed using SPSS software.

The participants in this study included 285 registered intensive care nurses employed at six hospitals in Jinan. Most were female (77.9%), and the mean age was 29.9 years. The mean total disaster nursing ability score was 122.98 (SD = 31.70), and the average scores for each item ranged from 2.78 to 3.70. The incident command system item earned the highest mean score (3.70, SD = 1.22), followed by triage (3.24, SD = 0.93). The biological preparedness item earned the lowest mean score (2.78, SD = 1.04). Being male, being < 30 years old, having an understanding of disaster nursing, having previously participated in disaster emergency simulation drills or training, and having a higher self-evaluation of rescue competence were all associated with higher disaster-nursing knowledge scores. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that understanding of disaster nursing and experience participating in disaster emergency rescue drills or training had the most significant influence on the disaster nursing emergency knowledge score, followed by positive self-evaluation of disaster nursing ability and demand for training.

The findings of this study indicate that the participants had a moderate disaster-nursing competency and that this competency may be improved through disaster-related continuing education and training. The cognitive attitude of disaster nursing was found to correlate positively with self-efficacy. Simulated emergency drills may effectively improve the disaster nursing competency of critical care nurses. The findings emphasize that experiences other than direct clinical practice such as specialized simulated emergency drills and training as well as willingness for such training are stronger factors for identifying and developing overall disaster nursing competency.