Nurses’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Performance about Disaster Management: A Case of Iran

Abstract

Background: Iran is a disaster-prone country in which many natural and man-made disasters happen every year. Because the health sector is vital due to its nature of treatment and rehabilitation of the injured after the disasters, all health care providers, especially hospital nurses, should be prepared to provide the services they need. Objective: The present study aimed to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and performance of nurses about disaster management in teaching hospitals affiliated to Iran, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2019. Methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study was conducted on a sample of 230 nurses working in the teaching hospitals of Iran, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, who were selected using the stratified sampling proportional to size and simple random sampling methods. The data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire containing 20 questions in three dimensions of knowledge, attitude, and performance. Then, the collected data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 through independent samples t-test, ANOVA and Tukey tests at the significance level of 5%. Results: The results showed that the highest and lowest mean scores were related to the attitude (2.38±0.19) and knowledge (1.70±0.50) of the nurses, respectively. However, all three dimensions were at a moderate level. The results showed significant relationships between the mean score of performance and the gender, marital status, age, and work experience of the nurses. In addition, statistically significant relationships were found between the mean score of knowledge and their age and work experience (p<0.05). Conclusion: According to the findings, the following suggestions can be made to increase the knowledge and performance of the nurses for being prepared in critical situations: reducing the duration and increasing the quality of training classes and workshops on disaster preparedness; providing some incentives for nurses, especially female, married, older, and more experienced ones to attend these classes; and improving the methods of training materials related to disaster management.

Determinants of Nurse Preparedness in Disaster Management: A Cross-Sectional Study Among the Community Health Nurses in Coastal Areas

“…This finding is in line with that of a previous study showing that nurses with the ideal length of work history can have increased productivity, performance, and ability in providing care. [27][28][29][30] However, it should be noted that nurses who have worked for a long time with a heavy workload can experience decreased productivity due to boredom and burnout when working as a disaster nurse. 31,32 One surprising finding of this study was that nurses who had not participated in disaster training had a greater likelihood of having a higher level of disaster preparedness than those who had engaged in such training.…”

How Prepared Are the Health Care Professionals for Disaster Medicine Management? An Insight from Pakistan

“…They reported that the knowledge level of physicians and nurses was satisfactory [ 27 ]. A study in Iran showed that the nurses’ knowledge was moderate [ 28 ]. The authors also found a significant relationship between knowledge score and respondent’s age and job experience.…”

“…Nofal et al (2018) discovered that the attitude of the hospital staff in Saudi Arabia was neutral [ 27 ]. Far et al (2020) indicated that the level of attitude of the nurses in Iran was just moderate [ 28 ]. Ahayalimudin and Osman (2016), in their study findings in Malaysia, showed that the physicians, nurses, and assistant medical officers’ attitudes towards disaster management were optimistic [ 29 ].…”

“…Nofal et al (2018) discovered that the practice of the hospital staff was neutral [ 27 ]. Far et al (2020) studied the performance of the nurses related to disaster management and mentioned that it was moderate, and gender, age, marital status, and job experience were significantly related to the performance aspect [ 28 ]. In another study, the researchers found out that the practices among medical staff were adequate [ 29 ].…”

“…Thus, university colleges and continuous education programs for HCPs should consider incorporating theoretical and practical components on disaster and preparedness in the curriculum [ 27 , 29 ]. The quality of these programs and curriculum according to the need assessment are also important [ 28 ]. Moreover, healthcare institutions need to ensure the effectiveness of human resource management [ 30 ].…”