National Estimates of Nurse Practitioner Disaster Preparedness Training

Area of Science:

• Public health preparedness
• Healthcare workforce training
• Disaster medicine

Background:

• Effective disaster preparedness is crucial for healthcare systems.
• Understanding disparities in training is essential for equitable response.
• Nurse practitioners play a vital role in patient care during emergencies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify national disparities in annual hazard-specific disaster preparedness training.
• To analyze training differences based on health care provider shortage areas (HPSA), practice rurality, patient population, and racial identity.
• To assess the training needs of nurse practitioners.

Main Methods:

• Utilized weighted estimates from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN) data.
• Analyzed data from 15,408 surveys, representing 208,866 nurse practitioners.
• Examined annual hazard-specific disaster training engagement across various demographic and practice characteristics.

Main Results:

• Nearly two-thirds of nurse practitioners reported engaging in annual disaster training updates.
• Rural practitioners demonstrated lower training rates for chemical (28% vs. 32%) and biological (26% vs. 29%) disasters compared to non-rural.
• Psychiatric nurse practitioners reported the lowest engagement in disaster preparedness training.

Conclusions:

• Significant disparities exist in disaster preparedness training among nurse practitioners.
• Targeted interventions are needed to improve training for rural and psychiatric nurse practitioners.
• Findings inform national training needs assessments for policymakers and healthcare organizations.