Nurses' professional competences in providing care to the injured in earthquake: A qualitative study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Iran has experienced an increasing number of earthquake disasters in the past three decades. Due to nurses’ unique role as professional and volunteer responders in times of disaster, more information is required regarding the capabilities they need to provide more effective care during the crisis. The aim of this study was to identify professional capabilities needed by nurses to provide care to the injured of earthquake. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was conducted as a qualitative conventional content analysis, and data collection was carried out through 16 semi-structured and in-depth interviews with the nurses involved in providing care to the injured in the Kermanshah earthquake. The data were analyzed following Graneheim and Lundman's approach. RESULTS: Data analysis led to the emergence of 427 primary codes, 10 subcategories, and four categories. The four categories included clinical competence (professional knowledge and clinical skills), personal competences (communication skills, resiliency, and creativity and innovation in providing care), ethical competence (commitment to ethics and professional responsibility), and essential skills in caring for the injured (skills in triage, psychological care skills, and skills in observation and monitoring) CONCLUSION: The present study identified a wide range of professional capabilities required by nurses in disasters. Given that nurses do not acquire some of these specialized and technical skills during their education, it is recommended to enhance the professional capacity of nurses in disasters. In addition, special training programs in this field can be incorporated into the curriculum of nursing programs and in-service nursing education.

Nursing skills required across natural and man‐made disasters: A scoping review

“…However, the most important used skill was intravenous insertion. Rezaei et al (2020) explored the professional competencies of 16 Iranian nurses who had provided care to the injured during the Kermanshah earthquake. More than half of the nurses were women, and the average age and work experience were 34.1 ± 5.8 years and 10.8 ± 5.3 years respectively.…”

Post-Quake Call for Action: Developing Core Competencies Matrix for Syrian Health Workers in Emergency Time

“…The second group comprises nursing staff who are pivotal in responding to the multifactorial challenges caused by disasters. They can support medical doctors and provide physical and psychological care to the injured [24,25]. These group members also play critical roles in preparing for and responding effectively to disasters in hospitals and communities [26,27].…”

“…Furthermore, based on the work of George Miller [25,53], we evaluated each competency for each role of health workers and adopted a relevant hierarchy as proposed; non-essential, familiar, knowledgeable, and competent. Logically, not all health workers should develop all the competencies identically.…”

“…The literature shows a previous qualitative study [25] conducted in Iran on nurses during the Kermanshah earthquake in 2017 to identify core competencies for nurses during earthquakes. The study concluded that many essential competencies are classi ed into four groups: clinical competency (cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills and airways management), personal competencies (communication skills, resiliency, and creativity in providing care), ethical competencies (commitment to ethics and professional responsibility), and fundamental caring skills (triage, psychological care, and monitoring skills) [25].…”

To be a nurse in a broken city

“…Nurses' ability to be adequately ready for and respond to a disaster caused by a natural hazard is crucial, and innovations and lessons learned from interviews with multidisciplinary healthcare team members who participated in the earthquake response can be helpful (Xue et al, 2020). Various qualitative studies have explored nurses' challenges in caring for injured patients of earthquakes (Hasanpour Dehkordi et al, 2021; Moradi et al, 2020;Rezaei et al, 2020). In summary, being and working as a nurse in a city affected by earthquakes can present significant obstacles, and nurses' encounters during and after earthquakes have been studied in a variety of settings.…”