Natural disasters are becoming increasingly common. In the past decade, 2.6 billion people worldwide have been affected by these unexpected emergencies. As frontline workers, nurses are tasked with providing care and helping to keep people safe even in significant emergencies. People look to nurses for help in these situations but how can nurses be prepared for a crisis?
No one can fully anticipate the emergency needs for fires, floods, hurricanes, outbreaks, or other disaster situations that can happen — but nurses can take educational and clinical steps to be as ready as possible. Emergency and disaster preparedness for nurses requires understanding the role of nurses in emergency response, receiving the proper training, and learning from real-world examples.
Understanding the Role of Nurses in Emergency Response
Nurses are essential workers in disaster response. They are critical to patient care outcomes and addressing immediate needs in emergencies. Nurses play a vital role in emergency response, public education, connecting groups, and supporting vulnerable victims.
Patient Care
Disasters can immediately overwhelm healthcare facilities with a sudden and significant increase in patient numbers. Nurses are expected to evaluate individual situations and triage care where it is needed most. This real-time evaluation of needs is challenging on its own, and nurses must then perform this responsibility under extreme pressure and often with limited information and resources. Their ability to ensure patients receive proper care even under high stress and abnormal circumstances can be life-saving.
Public Education
Nurses often have the role of educating the public. They are frontline workers during times of questions, and patients will look to them for direction during disasters. This educational role can range from disease prevention or disaster aftermath to safe practices during outbreaks or connecting people to healthcare resources. Nurses humanize help and understanding the impact that can come with education in an emergency is vital.
Professional Connection
Nurses are sometimes the link between multiple parts of a patient’s care experience. They coordinate with emergency responders, providers, and other medical departments, as well as with family and loved ones to help manage situations and provide the best care. A disaster situation can involve evacuation or caring for patients in temporary placements.
Nurses are also responsible for documenting and recording information, even amid chaos or confusion. Continuity of care is imperative in disaster situations, and it’s up to nurses to keep track of identities, conditions, instructions, and more. Nurses manage care in chaos, and their skills save lives.
Emotional Support
The trauma of disasters is immediate and real. Nurses can quickly become not only the physical care provider but also the emotional support needed in emergencies. As a frontline worker, they may often be one of the first people to help someone in need.
Disasters can affect healthcare workers just as much as patients, so this role of emotional support can be a significant weight. Nurses must understand this weight before experiencing a disaster to mentally prepare themselves for the personal toll of providing care. Making an emergency and care plan for a nurse’s personal and family life will help them be ready to help others if disaster strikes. The more prepared you are personally, the more you’ll be able to help.
Training Nurses for Disaster Situations
Training for an actual emergency or disaster might sound impossible to accomplish, but there are effective ways to help prepare nurses. Many nursing programs have adjusted their curriculum to include disaster response. This added curriculum focus prepares nurses for inevitable emergencies in effective ways. Here are a few of the ways they incorporate emergency preparedness in training and education:
Public Health Courses
Many nursing programs now offer courses specific to disaster relief and emergency response. These courses help prepare nurses to promote patient health and manage disease. When nurses better understand how to protect communities and promote health, they can more effectively manage outbreaks or emergencies.
Simulation Training
Simulations help train nurses by replicating disaster scenarios and allowing students to test their skills in controlled environments. These simulations can involve replicated natural disasters and emergencies. While the simulations are realistic, they provide a safe opportunity to practice clinical skills without real risks. This builds confidence and skills that nurses can later bring to real situations.
Field Experience
Hands-on experience is invaluable, and field experience provides that for nurses. Many nursing programs now coordinate field experiences for nursing students to help them gain fundamental skills. These field experiences may involve health assessments of vulnerable populations, setting up temporary shelters, managing medical supplies, practicing realistic disaster scenarios, providing first aid, or communicating with other emergency responders and community leaders.
Interprofessional Connection
Disasters require significant collaboration between professionals and communities. Some courses teach nurses how to connect professionals on a healthcare team — medical staff, public health workers, emergency responders, patient family members, and more. Interprofessional communication has been proven to keep patients safer while helping nurses build their confidence and professional network.
Challenges for Nurses in Disaster Situations
Responding to disaster situations will always mean providing care with additional challenges. Some of these hurdles to caregiving in emergencies can include:
- Limited resources
- Emotional stress
- Unconventional environments
- Ethical dilemmas
- Cultural barriers
- Staffing shortages
- Long hours
- Linguistic differences
- Power outages
While some of the hurdles listed can sometimes arise in regular healthcare facilities, these factors will inevitably intensify after a disaster. Understanding their impending presence is part of preparing emotionally, mentally, and physically for an emergency response.
Real-Life Examples of Nursing Through Emergencies
While we can never know how we’d respond in a situation until we have experienced it, there is value in looking to examples. Recent events provide a glimpse into what is expected from nurses in emergency response, and these examples can help prepare nurses for future situations.
- California Wildfires of 2025: Over 12,000 structures were destroyed by mid-January this year in the wildfires in California. This devastating event displaced thousands of residents, and nurses were on the front lines helping to care for injured residents.
- Hurricane Helene 2024: When Hurricane Helene devastated southern states, nurses set up temporary medical stations. They provided essential care while coordinating with local authorities and other healthcare providers.
- COVID-19 Pandemic: The global pandemic affected virtually all healthcare workers, and nurses were on the front lines during significantly trying times. As hospitals became overwhelmed, nurses prioritized care, administered vaccines, and offered public health education.
Nurse Safety During Disaster Relief
Supplemental Health Care (SHC) supports our nurses and healthcare professionals during natural disasters and other emergency situations. Patient safety is always critical, but we must protect our frontline responders on the job as well. The SHC team prioritizes the safety of our providers and keeps open communication while on assignment. Contact our recruiting team today to learn more about working with SHC!
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