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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters have become a priority for everyone. Gaza Strip in Palestine is constantly exposed to wars and disasters. One of the most prominent respondents to disasters in the health care system is emergency nurses. This study aimed to identify the role perception of Palestinian emergency nurses in Gaza Strip during disaster and their level of knowledge about disaster management.
Methods: The analytical descriptive cross-sectional approach was used. The study sample consisted of all nurses working in emergency departments at the governmental hospitals in Gaza Strip. The eligible nurses were 180; only 162 filled the questionnaire with response rate 90% after signing the consent form. Data were analyzed using mean, t test and ANOVA.
Results: The findings indicated that 75.9% of emergency nurses were male. About 53% were 20-29 years old. Most of them hold bachelor degree (73.5%) while only 4.3% had a master degree. The study found that the level of "role perception of nurses during disasters" was 81.5% (e.g., ability to participate in an emergency plan, provide psychosocial support, have high confidence during emergencies, etc.), followed by field of "nurses' knowledge of disasters" with 78.03% (e.g., past experience, updated information, etc.).
Conclusions: Although the Palestinian emergency nurses have an acceptable level of knowledge and role perception during disasters, they still need to raise their level of knowledge, preparedness and skills by integrating clearly defined theoretical and training sessions on disaster management in nursing curricula and through in-service activities for employees.
Language: en |