Assessment of Disaster Familiarity and its Associated Factors among Undergraduate Nurses

Abstract

A disaster is a condition that disrupts daily life, destroys infrastructure, electricity, and roads, and results in the death of people. Hence, familiarity with disasters allows nurses to help catastrophe victims. Objective: To assess disaster familiarity and its associated factors among undergraduate nurses. Methods: A cross-section study was conducted among students of two universities. It was undertaken between July 2021 to November 2022. The subjects consisted of 175 registered nurses enrolled for graduation Post RN-BS nursing program at nursing institutes of both universities. A consecutive sampling technique was used to approach the participants. The data were collected using a validated tool and analyzed on SPSS 21. Results: Of the 175 respondents, 58.29% were female, and the majority (63.42%)of participants were between 21-30 years old. Overall familiarity in the case of a large-scale emergency event, it was found that 48(27.4%) of the study participants were moderately familiar, 42(24.0%) were very familiar, and 41(23.4%) were average familiar. Conclusions: The overall familiarity of respondents with disaster preparedness was at a moderate level. While, gender, clinical experience, and age of the study participants were the most important factors impacting nurses working in emergencies. This topic needs more attention to be added to the curriculum of healthcare workers, and the government should organize periodic training sessions to enhance their level of knowledge.