Introduction
Natural disasters are inevitable catastrophes that disrupt the normal livelihoods of people causing property destruction, devastation, injuries, illnesses and loss of lives. Most natural disasters such as earthquakes occur suddenly and are the ones that cause the most damage. Although disasters like hurricanes have advanced warnings, they still end up causing hazardous effects though of lesser magnitude than the ones without warning since people will tend to get injured while scramming to prepare for the disaster or during the evacuation process. The number of people affected by disasters has tripled in the last decade to two billion people, yet the number of individuals who have lost their lives has reduced by more than half. This is owed to improved forecasting and early warning systems enabling for better preparedness and response. Nurses play a crucial role unequaled by any other profession in both employee and volunteer capacities in disaster all disaster phases’ management for more than a century. This is because disasters affect both people’s health and health care facilities and nurses possess a unique skill set necessary to serve the community before, during and after disasters.
Preparedness Phase
This phase refers to the structural planning required to provide public awareness to prepare for future disaster occurrences, and their consequences thereby reducing the overall negative impacts of the disasters. For public health nurses to assist effectively in community preparedness, they must first accomplish both personal and professional preparedness.
Disaster response teams require nurses with proper disaster management training preferably those that have previously served in disasters. Although most of disaster work are not technological based, nurses need to develop knowledge of how to access ready information related to disaster nursing care. The nurses should also know the type of disasters that are likely to happen in their areas, history and effects of past disasters, and the disaster plans of their organizations. Drills and training should be conducted to equip the nurses with the necessary skills to deal the functional needs of a region during disasters with the effectiveness of the plans evaluated. Depending on the nurses’ assignments during disasters, they should know how to use personal protective equipment, operate various special equipments used in disaster environments and perform their duties safely.
Nurses assist in community preparedness because of their knowledge of the community’s diversity. They should help in the evaluation and education of vulnerable populations about the impact of disasters. They should identify danger zones in the community and high-risk locations. They should also help community members design their personal preparedness plans for disaster situations.
Response Phase
This phase involves the implementation of the tentative disaster plan with the first action entails warning of the community of the impending disaster, mobilization of responders and evacuation of people in danger. This is followed by the assessment of the disaster impacts and the immediate needs of the community listed. The assessment is usually measured in monetary value, health risks and deaths with the results communicated to the relevant government organizations. The greater the degree, the more resources will be required, and if the local resources are overwhelmed, federal assistance is requested.
The primary concern in this phase is to provide life-saving efforts and emergency treatment. The nurses do this by utilizing disaster triage methods to sort out and prioritize casualties to administer adequate treatment. The activities involved include first aid, injury prevention, water and food allocation, risk evaluation of shelter sites, surveillance of infectious diseases, and assessment of the mental and psychosocial problem of affected people. To perform these tasks, public health nurses need to possess sufficient technical ability to conduct investigations and provide medical assistance at mass dispensing sites.
Conclusion
Natural disasters can happen at any instance without prior warning causing damage to property, injuries and deaths. To minimize the impacts of disasters and most significant conserve human lives it is important that the necessary plans be put in place. The most vital profession that has been dealing with disasters for more than a century is nursing since it is the one that deals with health issues. It is, therefore, paramount that nurses’ roles in dealing with disasters be well defined, with proper training conducted to equip them with the necessary skills to cope with disasters.
Bibliography
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Millet, C., 2013. The Public Health Nurse's Role in Disaster Management. Public Health Nursing Webinar.
Putra, A., Petpichetchian, W. & Maneewat, K., 2011. Public Health Nurses’ Roles and Competencies in Disaster Management. Nurse Media Journal of Nursing, 1(1).
Sharon.A.Stanley, Cole, S., McGill, J. & Millet, C., 2014. The Role of Public Health Nurses In Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. Association of Public Health Nurses.
Stanley, S. A. R. & Hassmiller, S. B., 2012. Public Health Nursing and the Disaster Management Cycle. s.l.:Stanhope.
