Citation

Hammad KS, Arbon P, Gebbie K, Hutton AE. Australas. Emerg. Nurs. J. 2017; 20(4): 181-185.

Affiliation

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Newcastle University, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, College of Emergency Nursing Australasia, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aenj.2017.10.002

PMID

29055685

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 Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Disasters; Emergencies; Emergency service; Hermeneutics; Hospital; Mass casualty incidents; Nurses