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Date of Award
2018
Publisher
North Dakota State University
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Awarded
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Program
Nursing
Department
School of Nursing
College
Health Professions
Faculty Advisor
Hohman, Adam
Description
Healthcare systems have a legal and moral duty to provide competent care to all consumers whom seek treatment even when natural disasters, terrorism events, pandemics, widespread chemical/radiologic exposure and other emergency/disaster events stress the system beyond its capabilities. Education, training and exercises are emergency/disaster preparedness activities that are essential to providing quality care to victims. Healthcare providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, are a vital resource for an emergency/disaster response; a consensus of research indicates an overall inadequate level of preparedness among healthcare providers. A majority of emergency/disaster planning efforts have been primarily aimed at urban communities with few published disaster planning efforts addressing the needs of rural communities and the unique challenges they face in emergency/disaster preparedness. The purpose of this practice improvement project was to identify the current status of education/training of rural healthcare providers and identify gaps in training/education to better prepare them to care for victims of emergencies/disasters. A needs assessment was administered to the healthcare providers at a rural healthcare facility in southwest North Dakota and analyzed for trends. Based on the analysis of the survey, the healthcare providers felt moderately prepared to care for victims, yet a universal desire to gain access to increased emergency/disaster education and training was reported. A comprehensive educational plan was developed, and corresponding educational resources were identified. The educational plan addressed 12 domains: personal preparedness, hazard recognition/response, terminology/emergency operations frameworks, communication, health/safety, patient logistics management, special needs populations, mental health considerations, legal/ethical principles, and hazard-specific medical management/triage. The needs assessment findings and education plan were provided to key stakeholders within the sponsoring organization to increase healthcare provider emergency/disaster preparedness awareness. Project methods can serve as a framework for ongoing development of assessment of rural healthcare providers’ competency in providing care to victims and rural emergency/disaster educational plans.
Recommended Citation
Abrams, Amanda Mischell, "Emergency/Disaster Preparedness of Rural Healthcare Providers" (2018). Nursing. 81.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/nursing/81
Rights
NDSU Policy 190.6.2
Rights Link
https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf
Handle Identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/10365/28076