Determinants of Nurse Preparedness in Disaster Management: A Cross-Sectional Study Among the Community Health Nurses in Coastal Areas

PURPOSE: Because Indonesia has a high risk of natural disasters, nurse preparedness is necessary to reduce and prevent deaths in the aftermath of such disasters. The aim of this study was to determine the factors associated with nurse preparedness in disaster management among a sample of community health nurses in coastal areas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was undertaken from May to August 2020. The sample consisted of 142 nurses who worked at six Public Health Centers in Pangandaran, West Java, Indonesia. Participants were recruited using the total sampling technique. The data were collected using the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire and analyzed using Chi-Square and binary logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 142 respondents, 54.24% had a high level of preparedness. Multivariate analysis showed that nurses with higher levels of preparedness had worked between 6 and 10 years (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 12.755, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.653–61.314). Respondents who lacked disaster training were less likely to have a high level of disaster preparedness (AOR: 4.631, 95% CI: 1.604–13.367). Respondents who had never served as disaster volunteers were also less likely to have disaster preparedness (AOR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.053–0.616). CONCLUSION: With nearly half of the respondents (45.77%) having a low level of disaster preparedness, this topic needs more attention from the government and healthcare workers. Several actions are needed to improve community nurses’ disaster preparedness: providing them with routine disaster-related training, encouraging them to serve as volunteers in various disaster conditions, and offering them useful disaster-related information.