Acting at a disaster site: views expressed by Swedish nursing students

There is a common interest in Swedish society in preparing nurses well for disasters. A special course in the basic nurse education programme is devoted to disaster nursing. The aim of this study is to investigate nursing students' knowledge and views of their own action at the disaster site, both in their professional role and as private persons. The present study is a descriptive one based on the students' written answers. The result shows that the students emphasize contacting the overall disaster officer, surveying the situation and carrying out basic life-saving measures in Sweden known as the ABCs. They also stress the importance of staying calm and, to a lesser extent, seeing to the needs of the mentally shocked. Thus the nursing students seem to regard treatment of physical injuries as most important in the disaster situation.