Paper
Friday, July 13, 2007
Mobilization of a Nursing Community After a Disaster
Susan M. Weeks, MS, RN, PMH-CNS, LMFT, Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Describe strategies to enlist nurse volunteers following a disaster. |
| Learning Objective #2: Discuss challenges that may be faced while providing nursing care to disaster survivors, as well as solutions to these challenges. |
This presentation will describe the presenter’s experience of coordinating disaster health services in her home community following a hurricane in another community. Although the home community was 550 miles away from the impacted area, thousands of evacuees arrived in the home community in need of immediate attention. The presentation will identify challenges faced, solutions utilized, and lessons learned to help other communities prepare for future disasters. In a disaster situation, nurses have a unique opportunity to make significant contributions. Learning from prior experiences will strengthen nurses’ abilities to respond in an effective manner.