Assistant Professor International Islamic University Malaysia International Islamic University Malaysia Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
Purpose: : Within Malaysia’s local context, studies of nurses’ experiences during a disaster are limited up to the year 2015. This study aimed to explore nurses’ experiences of working in a disaster situation and identify factors that contribute to and hinder the nurses’ response.
Design: : This retrospective study utilized a qualitative approach using a constructivist grounded theory.
Setting:: The nurses were recruited from nine public hospitals of the Ministry of Health across seven states in Peninsular Malaysia, between January and September 2016.
Sample:: About thirty (30) Malaysian nurses; staff nurses and sisters were recruited for the study. They have been involved in disasters that occurred from the years 2005 until 2016. The disasters that they have been involved in were tsunamis, floods, landslides, fire, pandemics and mass casualty incidents. The study was carried out for 9 months, taking into consideration the use of a constructivist grounded theory approach that requires the implementation of an iterative process for data collection and data analysis besides the geographical location of disasters that happened scattered in Malaysia.
Methods: : Semi-structured, in-depth one-on-one interviews utilizing a validated topic guide were used to gain rich data on the nurses’ experiences, supported with field notes. The trustworthiness of the data has been ensured through prolonged engagement with the respondents, triangulation between data from interviews and field notes, the selection of purposive and followed by snowball sampling, and reflexivity that fits all elements needed in a qualitative study. In regards to the implementation of constructivist grounded theory, this study interviewed the nurses iteratively. The data from one respondent was collected and analysed immediately before proceeding to the next respondent. The data was collected until it reached theoretical saturation where no more new subcategories emerged.
Results: : ‘Ensuring individual sustainability when in a hostile environment’ was identified as the core category, overarching the three categories of 1) establishing competencies and responsibilities, 2) managing emotions and 3) getting support. These categories formed the foundation of a model named ‘Being A Disaster Nurse’. The findings revealed that a concern of the nurses in this study was ‘being unprepared’ for disaster response and thus restricting their performance in managing a disaster. Despite facing difficulties and with less preparation, they remained serving the disaster victims without fail and without thinking about their own health.
Implications:: The study revealed a model of 'Being A Disaster Nurse' that can be served as the basis for preparing nurses for disasters. More research needs to be carried out about nurses' experiences responded during disasters. In regards to nursing education, more exposure should begin from the nursing school on the preparation of their nursing students. These findings can facilitate policy or practice that could assist not only nurses but other healthcare professionals in their preparedness prior to responding to a disaster. This finding also opens up opportunities for the researcher to bring back the long-lost speciality in nursing (disaster nursing) which was started by Rufaida Al-Aslami (the Muslim founder of nursing) in the 7th century and Florence Nightingale (the modern founder of nursing) in the 19th century.
