Reference: Coyle,
G., Sapnas, K. G., & Ward-Presson, K. (2007). Dealing with disaster. Nursing
Management, 38(7), 24-30.
Theme: Preparedness and strong leadership are
key elements to providing effective services during a disaster.
Summary: This paper focused on leadership
skills and preparation for leaders within nursing. Nurse leaders must ensure that their
subordinates have all of the required training.
Nurses who deploy to
disaster location must be well rounded, with sufficient experience. Leaders are tasked to identify which nurses
are most capable of deployment to disaster locations.
·
Participants in
voluntary disaster deployment should have a minimum of 1 to 2 years of clinical
nursing experience and be above "satisfactory" in performance,
attendance, and physical health.
·
The nurse leader is
required to demonstrate leadership disaster competencies, namely, understanding
the Incident Command System (ICS), and an emergency management plan that includes
tracking operational, labor, and capital costs.
·
Nurse leader disaster
competencies are defined by four domains: assessment, technical skills, risk communication,
and critical thinking.
·
The nurse leader is well
advised to have a straightforward discussion with staff members about the
physical environment and working conditions they might encounter during deployment
to a disaster event.
Other reading: Crichton, M. T., Ramsay, C. G.,
& Kelly, T. (2009). Enhancing Organizational Resilience Through Emergency
Planning: Learnings from Cross-Sectoral Lessons. Journal Of Contingencies
& Crisis Management, 17(1), 24-37.
doi:10.1111/j.1468-5973.2009.00556.x
This article discusses
the importance of proper planning in developing resiliency.
Application to emergency
management: Being prepared for disaster will ensure that
you are able to proficiently provide services to those in need. The other side of that coin, being
unprepared, will cause the public to not trust you and seek help from other
sources who may not have the resources needed to solve the problem. Leaders must identify who is most capable of
responding appropriately during a disaster, and place them on the roster for
tasking.
