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Thursday, September 20, 2012
Learning Objective 1: identify online resources for Medical Special Needs Disaster Shelter volunteer orientation and job specific training.
Learning Objective 2: create a plan for optimal utilization of medical and non-medical volunteers in the care of Medical Special Needs Disaster Shelter guests.
Our nursing faculty and students became involved in disaster sheltering efforts during hurricane Katrina. During subsequent hurricanes, the College of Nursing faculty and students operated Medical Special Needs Shelters (MSNS) and identified several challenges. One of those challenges was the lack of an organized and consistent approach to orientation. This Just-in-Time online training was created to fill that gap. In our development of the training website, we tried to be specific enough to meet the needs of our volunteers in our location but general enough to serve as an orientation for volunteers in other MSNS as well. The main body of the website houses the training modules. There are four modules, one for each of the primary volunteer categories: • Primary Care Providers • Nurses • Nursing Students • Non-Medical Volunteers Each category includes a general orientation, a role specific orientation, applicable forms, and a certificate of completion. This website was recently awarded the "Journal of Nursing Education: Top Teaching Tools Award 2011." The JNE Award Selection Committee wrote "“This is a tool that can easily be used with students and…as a model for Schools that might be thinking of setting up such a shelter or getting involved in disaster planning in other ways. There is a great deal of potential for also using this site for teaching about role differentiation, community involvement, and delegation” (JNE, 2011). The best way to view this submission is online at: http://www.uttyler.edu/nursing/msns/index.html The purpose of this poster presentation is to familiarize professionals involved in disaster preparedness and response with the available tools and to demonstrate how we plan to incorporate the tools into our efforts to educate future nurses, participate in disaster preparedness exercises, and respond as volunteers to the needs of our community.