DISASTER NURSING EDUCATION: A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY TO DETERMINE THE KEY CONCEPTS FOR NATIONAL EDUCATION IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA (KSA)

The global incidence of disasters is increasing, including in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). However, available evidence indicates knowledge gaps in nurses’ capabilities in the KSA for effective responses to disaster events. The current study examines requirements for effective disaster nursing education in the KSA by establishing what nurses in the KSA identify as key concepts for educational provisions and support mechanisms that will enable them to contribute effectively to disaster management. Specifically, this study examined current evidence-base that underpins disaster nursing education and identified concepts that an effective disaster nursing education programme must contain. A qualitative case study approach was used together with a scoping review of available evidence on disaster preparedness and response of nurses. Six hospitals across KSA were selected as cases and Emergency Response Plans (ERPs) were collected from all selected hospitals for review. Six focus group discussions were undertaken for nurses recruited from selected hospitals and four semi-structured interviews were conducted for nursing educators and policymakers from the KSA. Thematic analysis of transcripts of the focus group discussions and the interviews was conducted. Results obtained indicated that all selected hospitals have ERPs but there are problems associated with the implementation of ERPs by nurses. It was observed that the current nursing training programmes in the KSA lack emergency preparedness and response contents. Nurses in the KSA also lack non-clinical skills such as leadership, critical thinking and communication that is required for effective disaster response. The KSA lacks policy guidance for the training of nurses in disaster response and the knowledge of available policies among nurses and nursing educators is poor. This study recommends a framework of a disaster nursing education system which improves nurses’ capacity for disaster response planning and management, and skills required for policy making, communication, negotiation, leadership, and coordination.