Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in early November of this year and caused devastating results. In fact, there has been an approximation that over 10,000 people will eventually be announced as deceased either directly from this natural disaster or as a result of its secondary effects. In addition to the number of innocent people killed, many more were left injured, homeless, and without food and water. Being one of the worst natural disasters, typhoon Haiyan has reminded citizens, governmental organizations, rescuers, and health care providers all over the world that these tragedies will still occur no matter what preventative measures are in place (CNN, 2013). Therefore, evaluating health care resources prior to these occurrences is key in managing and providing safe and effective care following the event.
When relating natural disasters to public health and nursing, it is essential to evaluate nurses and their preparedness in these tragic situations. According to Baack & Alfred (2013), nurses report not being prepared for disastrous situations unless they have spent time providing care in either emergency departments or rescue missions. Without the experience of caring for people who have been injured from natural disasters such as: hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons, tornadoes, or floods, nurses are unaware of their roles in these terrible circumstances. Unfortunately, disaster preparedness is currently not a component within nursing curriculums, and nurses in their professional careers are unfamiliar with how their facilities are designed to respond to the aftermath of disastrous situations. Nurses also lack training in regards to the appropriate and necessary communication needed when a disaster occurs. As a result, there is room for improvement in the field of nursing in regards to responding quickly and effectively to natural disasters (Baack & Alfred, 2013).
Nurses make up a large portion of the healthcare system, so it is essential that they are aware of their roles when disasters occur. Disaster preparedness, specifically in relation to typhoon Haiyan, applies to public health nursing, because these health care providers can work to provide the field of nursing with more training on triage and effective communication in disastrous situations. First, it is important to allow nurses to have hands-on experiences either in the United States or abroad during times of tragedy and natural disasters. Second, it is crucial to include rescue and response courses into nursing education in order to prepare future nurses for these events. Finally, hospital administration should work to construct on-going education programs in the hospital setting in order to remind nursing staff of the actions that they need to take when a disaster does occur. Managing patients following these catastrophic events is quite challenging, and this proper training will allow the field of nursing to provide overall quality care (Baack & Alfred, 2013).
In relation to the current aftermath of typhoon Haiyan, more nurses could potentially assist with disaster care in the treatment of patients who are suffering from pneumonia. Typically following a typhoon, public health care professionals usually predict a high occurrence of diarrhea and amputations, but due to the damp and rainy weather, poor nutrition, absence of shelter, and the lack of clean and dry clothing in the Philippines, pneumonia has been one of the most common health concerns among those affected by the typhoon (The New York Times, 2013). As a result, more nurses could potentially help provide care and treatment of innocent victims from disastrous situations now and in the future if provided with the proper training and education.
Great post Katie! It seem as if no matter how much we try to "prepare" for a disaster, we can never truly be ready for the unknown consequences. Our guest speaker in class today made it sound like there are so many aspects that go into executing an efficient disaster response. She also stated that many health facilities become extremely overwhelmed with patients from these disasters. You presented great ways for preparing nurses for handling a disaster, and I would be interested to see how successful they are in a real situation.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post about disaster preparedness Katie. I appreciated the way you addressed the lack of disaster preparedness training in the nursing curriculum. I found it interested that the nurses reported not even knowing what role they should play in the wake of a disaster and I think that feeling unprepared likely makes it difficult for nurses to respond well if faced with a disaster. I found this resource that outlines many of the questions that nurses might have when dealing with a disaster (American Nursing Association, 2010: http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/WorkplaceSafety/Healthy-Work-Environment/DPR/Disaster-Preparedness.pdf)
ReplyDeleteI agree, Katie, that it seems like we forget how important it is to be prepared for a disaster until one happens. You mentioned that working in emergency rooms and rescue missions are the best way to "practice" working in a disaster situation and that nursing education should incorporate more of these skills into their curriculum. From my own experience, I really value simulations. I can only imagine what a simulation for disaster preparedness would be like if it was possible for multiple institutions to pool their resources to build a center that could accommodate a large (realistic) number of "victims". It would be expensive, but the learning experience could be worth it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for identifying how nurses could have a greater impact on victims' health after the recent typhoon. Taking care of lower acuity injuries could be one way a less-experienced nurse could be introduced to the work of disaster nursing while still contributing to the greater effort.
Katie, you covered disaster preparedness very thoroughly. It is so difficult to prepare for a disaster, but I believe that a course in emergency preparedness would be beneficial to student nurses and practicing nurses.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Katie! As you stated, nurses make up a huge part of the healthcare system. For nurses to be effective in the even of a disaster, they need to be prepared to operate under stressful conditions where resources and supplies are limited. In 2008, Towson University teamed up with the Maryland Medical Reserve Corp to do a 'disaster drill' with nursing students. After this exercise, a large majority of the participants felt they had gained a better understanding of disaster triage methods and roles (http://www.apha.org/membergroups/newsletters/sectionnewsletters/public_nur/fall08/Disaster+Preparedness+Training+Critical+for+Public+Health+Nurses.htm). It would be great if more nursing schools incorporated disaster and emergency preparedness courses and simulations into their curriculum.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post, Katie! This is an excellent and important public health concern to address. Watching the devestation of natural disasters unfold on TV, I've often wondered how teams sent in for relief and help even know where to begin. Especially with regards to the people whose health is compromised either directly or indirectly. I have considered, where does all this health come from and how are these people trained to handle such an exceptionally challenging situation. Triaging, working with minimal resources and often even running water or electricity. All the while, they have their own health in these conditions to consider. They certainly are not just this team of trained experts sitting around waiting for a disaster to occur. I wonder how nurses could be trained at a level that would allow them to be effective when a disaster suddenly strikes. Our guest lecture had mentioned training that nurses can get involved in for such circumstances, but I would be curious what the training entails and how realistic it is for all nurses to receive training that is adequate enough to be of added benefit in the event of a disaster. I agree 100% that all nurses should have some understanding of emergency preparedness. I would just be eager to see how it could be taught successfully given the time and resources that nursing programs have.
ReplyDeleteI agree Katie. Good Post. No matter how "prepared" people are, in emergency circumstances, the roll of a nurse can be kind of blurry. In these circumstances, only minimal amount of resources are available, and this is an entirely new situation for most nurses. Usually there are plenty of supplies to go around, but these circumstances call for critical thinking and ingenuity. I think we forget about how important it is for disaster preparedness because we have been working on the floors as student nurses. But UofM is a level one trauma, and when it comes down to disaster situations, it calls for all hands on deck. All nurses should learn to triage patients and perform quick assessments in disastrous circumstances. I think all nurses should receive a class on disaster preparedness, even if they are not working in ICUs or the emergency rooms. I liked your idea of on going education programs for situations like this. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post Katie. I agree that nurses need more education on providing care in disastrous scenarios especially in areas that are more prone to disaster situations. The programs should not only teach protocols on providing care to patients injured in disasters, but should also educate the staff in how to operate in a hospital that has been damaged by the disaster. Today, hospitals rely heavily on electricity and computers to operate. If a disaster were to knock out the power as well as the back-up generators; would the staff be able to operate a unit without electricity or a computer system without the proper education?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post, Katie! I agree that education and training is important--particularly at the institutional level. Nurses need to be aware of how to effectively and quickly triage patients under any circumstances similar to what you described. I also wanted to bring up an article I read from the ANA website that identifies some interesting legal and ethical issues related to disaster preparedness. At least as of 2010 when the article was published, there did not seem to be a solid consensus as to whether or not nurses have a "duty" to respond to natural disasters. Nurses might have conflicting obligations in certain situations such as staying home to protect their own families. Also, what are the legal ramifications for mistakes made when nurses are thrust into facilities or patient populations for which they are not familiar? Are there provisions for legal protection under these circumstances? I think that when most of us hear about something like this typhoon, we are compelled to focus on the disaster itself an imagine our physical and emotional involvement, but I also think it is imperative to iron out these legal and ethical issues before any of us are ever involved in such a predicament.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to that article if anyone is interested:
http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/WorkplaceSafety/Healthy-Work-Environment/DPR/Disaster-Preparedness.pdf
Interesting post, Katie. A lack of education, experience and training are definitely barriers to nurses feeling prepared in a disaster situation. The U-M School of Public Health's Office of Public Health Preparedness offers a number of free training opportunities - many of which are tailored to nurses and other healthcare providers - to help address this issue. Online trainings, webcasts and other resources can be found at http://practice.sph.umich.edu/micphp/index.php.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense that pneumonia would be the most serious threat to public health after the typhoon in the Philippines, but it wasn't expected. Greater preparedness of the nursing community is a pragmatic way to combat this type of illness that is unfortunate. Deadly diseases that proliferate which aren't a direct result from the disaster itself shows us that there is much more to be done to prevent them. It is somewhat unnerving that we could be at the front lines of a disaster as nurses, however planning for contingencies could enhance our success.
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