Nurses bear a lot of responsibility for their patients and their community when disaster strikes, yet past research has demonstrated a lack of preparedness (Nilsson et al, 2016). This is unfortunate given that disasters, both natural and man-made, are increasing in both frequency and intensity. A disaster is defined as a, “destructive event that disrupts the normal functioning of the community” (Adams et al, 2015), and can include any event from losing power to a pandemic such as Covid-19. Nurses in any of these situations should be prepared to activate the facility’s disaster plan, triage cases, provide any necessary emergency treatment, and coordinate evacuations as appropriate. Meanwhile, the nurse should present in a calm, confident manner when caring for their patients and provide the appropriate education regarding the situation at hand. This is difficult, to say the least. Therefore, it is imperative that nurses be educated on emergency preparedness in order to respond in the most effective and efficient manner.
Nurses’ most valuable traits as caring and compassionate individuals can also lead to their own demise when they lack the same empathy for themselves. Provision 2 of the ANA Code of Ethics states that a nurse’s primary responsibility is to the patient, yet Provision 5 of the Code states that a nurse owes the same duty to self. These are difficult duties to uphold on a normal day to day basis as a busy nurse, and therefore are even more challenging in a state of disaster. In my opinion, the nurse must put themselves first. One cannot be competent in their role if they are not safe, healthy, and meeting all of their own physiological needs. A good example of this is that a passenger of a plane is always advised to put on their own oxygen mask before assisting other passengers onboard. You cannot be asked to make reliable decisions and act appropriately if you are starving your body of a necessary requirement to life. However, this can become tedious in a case of a disaster and likely depends on the situation at hand. During any crisis, it is the nurse’s ethical responsibility to give the best possible care to their patients, the community, and themselves. This will require organization, leadership, teamwork, and time management skills.
References
Adams, L. M., Canclini, S. B., & Frable, P. J. (2015). “Skip the infection, get the injection”: a case study in emergency preparedness education. Nurse education in practice, 15(1), 58–62. https://doi-org.une.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2013.12.004
Nilsson, J., Johansson, E., Carlsson, M., Florin, J., Leksell, J., Lepp, M., Lindholm, C., Nordström, G., Theander, K., Wilde-Larsson, B., & Gardulf, A. (2016). Disaster nursing: Self-reported competence of nursing students and registered nurses, with focus on their readiness to manage violence, serious events and disasters. Nurse education in practice, 17, 102–108. https://doi-org.une.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2015.09.012
