Practice, disaster preparation training needs, and associated factors in nursing staffs operating at Amhara regional state referral hospitals in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Natural & human-made disasters are occurring at alarming rates around the world, necessitating more training and preparing frontline emergency department nurses. METHODS: The findings were derived from a hospital-based cross-sectional study. The study included all emergency department working nurses from the region's referral institutions. Self-administered written questionnaires were used to collect disaster information from respondents. Epidata software manager v4.6.0.2 was used to enter and code data, which was then exported to spss version 26 for additional analysis. RESULT: The majority of our participants were 68-year-old men (66.7 percent). Furthermore, the average age of data respondents was 31.2 ± 5.7. It is discovered that 25 (24.5%) of participants have adequate experience, while 75 (75.5%) of responders have insufficient practice. In addition, 40.9% of responders require training in first aid and treatment concepts, 37.3% require disaster preparedness training, and 31.4% require basic disaster response principles training. In multivariate analysis, training in a hospital setting (P value = 0.047, OR: 0.282, 95 percent CI: (0.081–0.985) and simulation in a hospital setting (P value = 0.002, OR: 0.071, 95 percent CI: (0.055–0.530) were significantly linked with disaster preparedness practice. DISCUSSION: Levels of disaster practice, training, and their respective associated factors are discussed, along with other findings in the subject. CONCLUSIONS: Because emergency department nurses' disaster preparedness skills are insufficient, training involving drills and simulations, as well as teaching, is required. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: It aids in effective victim care, rehabilitative services, and emergency and disaster prevention. It may also aid in the priority of care. This will ultimately increase the effectiveness of emergency department care. The research findings may also aid in the establishment of a formal emergency and disaster preparedness framework in emergency departments.