Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Nursing

Date of Defense

11-23-2020

Graduate Advisor

Umit Tokac

Committee

Roxanne Vandermause

Annah Bender

Mary Ann Drake

Abstract

Abstract

The world is struggling with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and the need for disaster nursing education has never been more clear. Recently, the American Nurses Association reported that of the over 32,000 nurses surveyed; only 11% felt well prepared to care for a COVID-19 patient (ANA, 2020). Community health nurse educators are tasked with educating future nurses on disasters, yet, little is known about this population’s perceived competence in disaster preparedness. The purpose of this study is to describe community health nurse educators' perceived competence in disaster preparedness.

The study is a descriptive, correlational design used to measure community health nurse educator's perceived preparedness for disaster response. The study examined the relationships between community health nurse educator's perceived preparedness and personal attributes and self-regulation (motivation).

Two findings were statistically significant. First, if community health nurse educators had actively participated in a disaster event in the past, they reported greater perceived competence in disaster nursing preparedness (p=.001). Second, the higher the level of self-regulation the more familiar community health nurse educators were with disaster preparedness.

Community health nurse educators are on the frontlines of healthcare’s response to a disaster. Community health nurse educators must stress the importance of the nurse’s role in disaster preparedness to administrators and professional organizations of nursing, and provide themselves, and students, with the self-determination to take the risks involved in preparing and acting in a disaster.

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