Leveraging an Academic-Clinical Partnership to Enhance Undergraduate Nursing Disaster Education

Nurses are essential team members during emergency responses. Fundamental disaster knowledge and skills are vital to respond effectively in disaster situations; however, nursing curricula often do not incorporate this content sufficiently.

Faculty partnered with nursing leaders within an academic-clinical partnership (ACP) to update disaster content for relevancy, create new classroom learning activities, and design and implement an immersive on-site learning experience. Students completed a voluntary survey following the experience.

Students (n = 50) rated the learning experiences as very helpful and highly recommended faculty continue to offer similar experiences in future course iterations. Qualitative feedback highlighted the value of hands-on experience, effects on future careers, and appreciation for content relevancy. Faculty and clinical partners affirmed the relevance and value of the revised content and experience.

Leveraging ACPs within undergraduate nursing education can facilitate and enhance the delivery of content related to disaster management and emergency preparedness. [.