How Nurses Can Help During Disasters

Published On: October 25, 2021

No one can stop a disaster. Because calamities are unpredictable and inevitable, those who possess applicable training and education on disaster readiness are highly valued by society. Courses in Mississippi College’s online Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program can help nurses develop skills in care coordination and readiness to work in a variety of settings, including emergencies. These qualities, along with vast medical knowledge, make nurses an essential resource for disaster assistance.

Disaster Preparedness Starts at Home

A nurse’s obligation is to care not just for others, but also for themselves and their families. Nurses must prepare themselves so they are available to help others. Personal disaster preparation can reduce worries about their loved ones’ safety.

Personal Preparation:

Arrange for a reliable method of communication between family members.
Determine a specific meeting place to reunite if separated.
Outline a backup plan for caring for children, dependents or pets.
Gather basic emergency supplies such as medication, cell phone chargers, flashlights, etc., and put them in a single location.
Ensure elderly family members have appropriate medical identification bracelets.
Store important paperwork in a manner safe from fire and water damage.

Understand Your Job Obligations

Nurses should be familiar with their employer’s disaster preparedness and response plans so they are aware of obligations to their employer. Planning and preparation can help to reduce confusion during a disaster and enable nurses to understand their responsibilities.

A nurse’s professional responsibilities may include the following:

Reviewing the organization’s disaster plan and policies
Determining how and when patient evacuation should occur
Studying operational protocols for protective equipment, immunization and security measures
Participating in emergency drills

Explore Opportunities With Volunteer Agencies

A nurse’s compassionate nature can assist in relieving the stress and fear that often accompany a disaster. A nurse can assume a variety of roles which could include providing community and consumer education, administering first aid and medication, assessing victims and special-needs populations, or monitoring the mental health needs of responders and victims. Nurses can help prepare for a disaster by gaining education and by being part of an organized response system.

Organizations that offer opportunities to work in long-term relief efforts include:

Educate Yourself to Prepare for a Disaster

Nurses can gear up for a disaster by adding emergency preparedness to their knowledge base. A number of organizations offer training and education opportunities for those who want to ready themselves to help the community by learning life-saving skills. Some resources include:

Dealing With Difficult Questions

Recent disasters have prompted conflicting opinions about how best to respond. Some nurses may avoid these challenging, volatile topics for fear of offending family and friends, but many people consider nurses a trusted source of information. This trust can help open conversations for the difficult questions a tragedy can prompt.

Nurses can take this opportunity to engage others in evidence-informed conversations and work together to form applicable solutions in the policy-making process.

Some issues that may arise include the following:

How should nurses respond when they are unable to provide care for everyone affected?
How can a nurse respond to individuals who are reluctant to accept help?
What is the responsibility of nurses to their families, themselves and the community during a disaster?

The American Nurses Association (ANA) recognizes the importance of preparation for a seamless coordination of disaster response. This requires nurses working in conjunction with the community in a continuous cycle of planning to keep healthcare facilities functioning and providing quality care during a disaster.

Expect the Unexpected

A nurse’s first step in preparation is having a disaster plan for themselves and their family. It is impossible to predict when the next disaster will occur, only that one could. Every role is important in disaster preparation and relief efforts. Nurses can prepare today to deal with unexpected disasters by taking steps to understand their responsibilities and obligations.

Learn more about the Mississippi College online RN to BSN program.

Patient Charting and Health Information – Tips for Nurses

Patient care involves a lot of moving parts, especially in critical situations. Nurses must think on their feet, make quick decisions and be confident those decisions are correct. Even in lower-stress provider-patient interactions, such as a routine checkup, certain steps are crucial to optimize patient care.

Qualities of a Nurse Leader

Each nurse, regardless of education level or role, is a leader. Nurses rely on decision-making and critical-thinking skills to improve patient health, whether as a caregiver at a patient’s bedside or as a manager in the boardroom. The nation’s healthcare landscape is changing, and nurses are at the forefront of this change. They are being asked to strengthen their leadership skills so that they can deliver optimal patient-centered care and take on a growing number of roles — administrators, policy advisers, researchers and teachers.

Role of Nurses in Improving Public Health

Nurses are known for the patient-centered care they provide. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses put their own safety at risk, providing critical care under extraordinary stress. Public health nurses were also on the frontlines, working to prevent and control the disease, train workers for testing sites, conduct contact tracing, help marginalized communities access vaccines and more.

Evaluating Social Determinants of Health

In recent years, the importance of understanding social determinants of health (SDoH) and how they impact an individual’s care has grown. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), social determinants of health are “the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies and political systems.”

The Benefits Of Earning A BSN Degree For Today’s Nurses

Imagine heading to the emergency room, urgent care facility or even just a routine clinic visit and being unable to see a nurse. It sounds odd, but it may become a reality. There is, and has been for many years, a global nursing shortage.