Culture of Safety and Preparedness: Benefits of Applying a Daily Mitigation Mindset in the Hospital Setting

Anne Reid Griffin (), Aram Dobalian, Joanne C. Langan and Sallie J. Shipman ()
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Anne Reid Griffin: US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Emergency Management Evaluation Center (VEMEC), North Hills, CA 91343, USA
Aram Dobalian: US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Emergency Management Evaluation Center (VEMEC), North Hills, CA 91343, USA
Joanne C. Langan: Valentine School of Nursing, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO 63104-1099, USA
Sallie J. Shipman: School of Nursing, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL 32603, USA

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 2, 1-11

Abstract: Aim: Utilizing the subjective experience of nurse executives who have supervised nurses during a major disaster in a hospital setting, this study aims to describe the subjective experience of nurse executives (NE) who have supervised nurses’ responses to major disasters. This paper will focus on strategies to support nursing response to disasters, specifically to strengthen resiliency and the ability to maintain function despite the shock of a disaster, including those caused by climate change. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 hospital-based nurse executives who supervised nurses during some of the worst natural and human-made disasters in different regions of the United States. A phenomenological approach was used to analyze and describe emerging themes from the qualitative data. Results: Three nurse executives demonstrated theme saturation for mitigation steps to augment traditional disaster readiness activities: (1) Assessment of human infrastructure: daily skills needed during disaster response; (2) Identification and study of failure points and metrics; (3) Strengthening human infrastructure: rectifying deficiencies; and (4) Monitoring metrics and making corrections during conventional periods. Conclusion: Mitigation steps may improve outcomes in hospital function during conventional times; therefore, these steps may improve resiliency and the ability to maintain functions during major disasters, including climate change.

Keywords: risk evaluation and mitigation; nursing; natural disasters; climate; disaster nursing; disaster management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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