Indonesian emergency nurses’ preparedness to respond to disaster: A descriptive survey

Abstract Background As frontline hospital staff, emergency nurses must be prepared to respond in disaster situations. While many disasters have befallen Indonesia, no available studies document disaster preparedness of nurses in this region. This study aimed to assess disaster preparedness among Indonesian emergency nurses, as well as examine factors that affected disaster preparedness in this group. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in four hospitals in Central Java. The Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET) was used to assess participant's disaster preparedness. This questionnaire was translated into Bahasa Indonesian using Brislin's (1970) back-translation technique. Results A total of 120 participants were included in the analysis. The findings indicate that Indonesian emergency nurses have a moderate level of disaster preparedness. Previous disaster experience and disaster training or education were positively associated with disaster preparedness. Additional years' experience nursing was not correlated with disaster preparedness. Conclusions These findings can be used as a basis to develop education programmes aimed at improving preparedness for disaster among Indonesian emergency nurses.