Paper
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Learning Disaster Preparedness: A Journey from Fear to Quiet Competence
Elizabeth Nix, MSN, RN, ET, CDE, College of Nursing and Health Professions, Arkansas State University, State University, AR, USA and Charlotte Young, RN, PhD, Department of Nursing, Arkansas State University, State University, AR, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: Identify one motivating factor related to learning disaster preparedness |
| Learning Objective #2: Identify two stages of the journey from fear to quiet competence |
Background: Due to the shortage of nurses and the need to provide care for victims of disaster, many nurse educators are teaching disaster preparedness in colleges of nursing. Little is known about the motivation or process related to learning disaster preparedness.
Objective: The aim of this descriptive phenomenologic study was to describe the essence of students’ experiences of learning and changing perception related to course on psychological aspects of disaster.
Methods: Descriptive Phenomenology was used highlight the experience of learning psychological aspects of disaster preparedness. The main recruitment approach was offering a free course on psychological aspects of disaster to juniors and seniors in the BSN program within the southern part of the USA. Convenience sampling was used and resulted in 15 students who identified themselves as having gained a different perspective due to the course. Participants were asked to describe their experience of changing perception during the course. Their stories were analyzed using Colaizzi's method of data analysis.
Results: Student attitudes changed from efforts to avoid trauma to methods of recognizing and aiding persons experiencing trauma. Students described a learning process of: 1) feeling driven to learn how to protect self and family 2) gradually understanding the difference between stress and trauma,3)learning methods of protecting self and others from the effects of trauma when possible and 4) methods of recognizing and aiding persons who have experienced trauma.
One unexpected finding was students’ identification of two factors motivating learning were: 1) a belief that disaster could happen to them in the future and 2) having a personal or close relationship to the suffering related to psychological aspects of disaster or war.
Conclusions:
The importance of the motivation to learn is a pivotal element to consider when teaching students disaster preparedness. This has important implications for educating nurses in the future.