The Effect of Training Program for Disaster Management on Emergency Nurses` Knowledge, Skills and Personal Preparedness in Palestine: Quasi Experimental Study رسالة دكتوراة

Abstract

Background: Emergency nurses are the majority of healthcare professionals who need to prepare well to cope with severe crises and work with catastrophe victims. There is a lack of disaster preparedness training programs in Palestine. Thus, this study aimed to assess the effect of a training program for disaster management on knowledge, skills, and personal preparedness among emergency nurses in Palestine. Methods: A one-group pretest-post-test design was used. A total of 64 emergency nurses from governmental and non-governmental hospitals in Palestine were recruited in intervention program. The intervention consisted of 15 hours distributed over three days The data were collected using Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool and Nursing Triage Observation Checklist (NTOC) that was used to assess the nurses’ skills. Results: Emergency nurses' knowledge, skills, and personal preparedness levels for disaster preparedness before the training program were moderate. While nurses’ knowledge, skills, and personal preparedness levels were strong after a training program. There were significant differences in nurses’ knowledge, skills, and personal preparedness before and after the disaster training program (t = -13.326; p < 0.001; t = -12.539; p < 0.001, t = -12.256; p < 0.001, respectively). The observation of nurses’ skills pre-intervention indicated that 51 (79.6%) nurses of the participants had good skills in triage and observation of nurses’ skills one-month post-intervention program indicated that all nurses (100%) showed good skills in triage. Conclusions: The results proved the effectiveness of a disaster training program in improving emergency nurses’ knowledge, skills, and personal preparedness for disaster management. Therefore, policymakers and healthcare professionals should encourage updating continuous education programs for disaster preparedness among emergency nurses. Keywords: Disaster; Disaster management; Disaster training program; Emergency nurses; Knowledge; Personal preparedness; Skills.