Partnering to prepare: An academic/workforce collaboration to develop disaster shelter training for nurses

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Disaster Management
• Nursing Education

Background:

• Increasingly frequent and severe wildfires in California necessitate improved disaster response.
• Disaster shelters face growing demand due to evacuations, with occupants presenting complex medical and behavioral health needs.
• Public health nurses (PHNs) are vital for disaster shelters but often lack recent direct patient care experience and adequate training infrastructure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a partnership model for training public health nurses (PHNs) for disaster shelter roles.
• To demonstrate a sustainable training approach for PHNs in disaster preparedness.
• To highlight the value of academic and local health department collaborations in disaster response.

Main Methods:

• A regional collaborative of health jurisdictions partnered with a public university.
• Developed and implemented a training program for public health nurses (PHNs) to prepare them for disaster shelter operations.
• Focused on equipping PHNs with skills for direct patient care in shelter settings.

Main Results:

• The partnership successfully established a sustainable training infrastructure for public health nurses (PHNs).
• The training program enhanced PHNs' readiness to provide direct patient care in disaster shelters.
• The collaborative model proved effective in addressing disaster preparedness and response needs.

Conclusions:

• Partnerships between academic institutions and local health departments are crucial for effective disaster preparedness.
• Sustainable training programs are essential to augment the capacity of public health nurses (PHNs) in disaster response.
• Investing in specialized training for PHNs strengthens community resilience during public health emergencies.