Abstract

Objective: On April 27, 2011, the state of Alabama encountered a horrific day of tornados that left a trail of damage throughout the state. The city of Tuscaloosa was devastated by an EF-4 that resulted in many victims and casualties. Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa had a massive inflow of victims with both mild and major injuries. When disasters such as this occur, nurses must respond with efficiency and effectiveness to help as many victims as possible. However, little is known about the psychological effects of disasters on nurses and how these impact nurses both personally and professionally. Because resilience can directly impact how a nurse responds to a situation, this article aimed to examine the resilience levels of nurses working during the disaster.

Methods: This study was part of a larger study examining the needs of nurses both before and after disasters. Ten nurses were interviewed and completed a 10-item survey on resilience, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). The full range of scores on this scale is from 0 to 40, with higher scores reflecting greater resilience.

Results: In this survey of 10 nurses, the scores ranged from 33 to 40, with a mean score of 36.7.

Conclusions: The nurses who were interviewed and completed the survey possessed a high level of resilience. More research should be done on the causes of increased resilience in nurses after disasters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness . 2015;9:601-604)

Description

http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1935789315000701

Archived with thanks to Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness

Author Details

Stephanie Turner, Ed.D, MSN, Psi Upsilon Chapter

Sigma Membership

Psi at-Large

Type

Article

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Grounded Theory

Research Approach

Qualitative Research

Keywords:

Disasters, Disaster Medical Response, Emergency Response

Identifier Type

0 1

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Version

Post-print

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

External Review: Previously Published Material

Acquisition

Self-submission

Date of Issue

2015

Full Text of Presentation

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