Karen S Hammad1, Paul Arbon2, Kristine Gebbie2, Alison Hutton3. 1. College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Australia; Torrens Resilience Institute, Australia. Electronic address: karen.hammad@flinders.edu.au. 2. College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Australia; Torrens Resilience Institute, Australia. 3. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Newcastle University, Australia.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: We experience our lives as a series of memorable moments, some good and some bad. Undoubtedly, the experience of participating in disaster response, is likely to stand out as a memorable moment in a nurses' career. This presentation will describe five distinct moments of nursing in the emergency department (ED) during a disaster response. METHODS: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological approach informed by van Manen underpins the research process. Thirteen nurses from different countries around the world participated in interviews about their experience of working in the ED during a disaster. Thematic analysis resulted in five moments of disaster response which are common to the collective participant experience. RESULTS: The 5 themes emerge as Notification (as a nurse finds out that the ED will be receiving casualties), Waiting (waiting for the patients to arrive to the ED), Patient Arrival (the arrival of the first patients to the ED), Caring for patients (caring for people affected by the disaster) and Reflection (the moment the disaster response comes to an end). CONCLUSION: This paper provides an in-depth insight into the experience of nursing in the ED during a disaster response which can help generate awareness and inform future disaster preparedness of emergency nurses. Crown
BACKGROUND: We experience our lives as a series of memorable moments, some good and some bad. Undoubtedly, the experience of participating in disaster response, is likely to stand out as a memorable moment in a nurses' career. This presentation will describe five distinct moments of nursing in the emergency department (ED) during a disaster response. METHODS: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological approach informed by van Manen underpins the research process. Thirteen nurses from different countries around the world participated in interviews about their experience of working in the ED during a disaster. Thematic analysis resulted in five moments of disaster response which are common to the collective participant experience. RESULTS: The 5 themes emerge as Notification (as a nurse finds out that the ED will be receiving casualties), Waiting (waiting for the patients to arrive to the ED), Patient Arrival (the arrival of the first patients to the ED), Caring for patients (caring for people affected by the disaster) and Reflection (the moment the disaster response comes to an end). CONCLUSION: This paper provides an in-depth insight into the experience of nursing in the ED during a disaster response which can help generate awareness and inform future disaster preparedness of emergency nurses. Crown