Emergency nurses' Knowledge and Practice Regarding Preparedness of Disaster Management at a University Hospital. Egypt

Background: A disaster is an incident that causes massive destruction. Nurses role is very essential in disaster management. The aim of the study: Was to assess emergency nurses' knowledge and practices regarding preparedness of disaster management. Subject and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the emergency department at Mansoura emergency hospital to collect data from 22 emergency nurses. Two tools were used, first; a disaster structured questionnaire and the second tool was about disaster nursing performance observational checklist. Results: It revealed that more than two thirds (72.7%) of nurses have got unsatisfactory level of knowledge regarding preparedness of disaster management with the mean knowledge score 10.32 ± 2.75 out of 15 score. Concerning nurses' practices, the nurses demonstrated satisfactory practices regarding the process of patient's admission. On the other hand, they showed unsatisfactory practices regarding triage care, utilizing personal protective equipment and infection control measures. significant positive correlations were found between nurses' knowledge and experience in the emergency department, as well as attending previous courses related to disaster preparedness & total practice Conclusion and Recommendation: The overall level of knowledge and practice were unsatisfactory regarding preparedness of disaster management -It can be recommended that emergency nurses need integration of clearly titled theory and practice, teaching courses about disaster and emergency preparedness into nursing curricula are crucial needed and provided in respect to their training preferences.