An EPIC Mass Shelter Training for Public Health Nurses in Georgia to Improve Core Competencies in Disaster Preparedness
Abstract
Background: A survey conducted by one State Department of Public Health Office of Nursing in April of 2021, demonstrated that 45% of the public health nurses surveyed had never deployed to a mass congregate shelter, and 43% reported they had no formal training related to emergency preparedness or mass sheltering. The purpose of this project was to measure public health nurses’ improvement in familiarity with emergency preparedness and disaster response core competencies as defined by the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ) after a focused educational program and tabletop workshop.
Methods: This project used a pre- and post-survey descriptive survey design, integrated six education modules delivered via asynchronous learning platform, and participation in one asynchronous interactive workshop. Pre and post responses to individual items in the EPIQ survey were compared using a paired samples t-test to determine if any significant change occurred (ɑ = 0.05). In addition, an overall familiarity score was computed as the sum of responses for each participant in the EPIQ survey (max of 90) and compared using a pre to post paired t-test to determine if there was an overall statistical change.
Results: A total of 249 department of public health nurses participated in the Emergency Preparedness and Mass Sheltering training. The overall familiarity score showed a statistically significant improvement (p < .001; 98% confidence interval) related to emergency preparedness core competencies with an average pre survey familiarity score of 57.78 and an average post survey familiarity score of 70.43.
Conclusion: Analysis of final EPIQ results demonstrates that focused educational programs increased disaster response core competencies among public health nurses and now guides one State Department of Public Health Office of Nursing in future planning activities. Research shows that nurses are often ill-prepared for disaster responses, this project provides a reproducible model for training a skilled public health nursing workforce who are ready and competent to respond to mass sheltering events.
Keywords
public health nursing, emergency preparedness, mass sheltering
An EPIC Mass Shelter Training for Public Health Nurses in Georgia to Improve Core Competencies in Disaster Preparedness
Background: A survey conducted by one State Department of Public Health Office of Nursing in April of 2021, demonstrated that 45% of the public health nurses surveyed had never deployed to a mass congregate shelter, and 43% reported they had no formal training related to emergency preparedness or mass sheltering. The purpose of this project was to measure public health nurses’ improvement in familiarity with emergency preparedness and disaster response core competencies as defined by the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ) after a focused educational program and tabletop workshop.
Methods: This project used a pre- and post-survey descriptive survey design, integrated six education modules delivered via asynchronous learning platform, and participation in one asynchronous interactive workshop. Pre and post responses to individual items in the EPIQ survey were compared using a paired samples t-test to determine if any significant change occurred (ɑ = 0.05). In addition, an overall familiarity score was computed as the sum of responses for each participant in the EPIQ survey (max of 90) and compared using a pre to post paired t-test to determine if there was an overall statistical change.
Results: A total of 249 department of public health nurses participated in the Emergency Preparedness and Mass Sheltering training. The overall familiarity score showed a statistically significant improvement (p < .001; 98% confidence interval) related to emergency preparedness core competencies with an average pre survey familiarity score of 57.78 and an average post survey familiarity score of 70.43.
Conclusion: Analysis of final EPIQ results demonstrates that focused educational programs increased disaster response core competencies among public health nurses and now guides one State Department of Public Health Office of Nursing in future planning activities. Research shows that nurses are often ill-prepared for disaster responses, this project provides a reproducible model for training a skilled public health nursing workforce who are ready and competent to respond to mass sheltering events.
