Jordanian Nurses’ Perceived Disaster Preparedness: Factors Influencing Successful Planning

Abstract

Background. Current disaster knowledge, skills, and preparedness levels need to be evaluated to guide plans to strengthen disaster readiness. Objective. This study aimed to explore the Jordanian staff nurses’ perception regarding their familiarity, attitudes, and practices for disaster preparedness (DP) to reduce the negative impacts of disasters. Methods. This is a cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive study. The study was conducted on nurses working at governmental and private hospitals in Jordan. A convenience sample of 240 currently working nurses was recruited to participate in the study. Results. The nurses were somewhat familiar with their role in DP (2.9 ± .84). The nurses’ overall attitude towards DP was 2.2 ± 0.38, indicating that respondents had medium attitude levels. A low practice level for DP (1.59 ± 0.45) was also observed. Among the studied demographic variables, there was a significant relationship between experience and prior training with improved familiarity and practices. This indicates a need for strengthening nurses’ practical skills as well as their theoretical knowledge. However, there is only a significant difference between attitude scale scores and disaster preparedness training (f = 10.120; $p=0.002$ ). Conclusions. The study findings support the need for more training (academic and/or institutional) to increase and improve nursing disaster preparedness locally and globally.