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Journal article
Observations and Actions of Nurse Executives During No-Notice Disaster Events in the Hospital Setting
Online journal of issues in nursing, Vol.30(2)
05/31/2025
Abstract
Hospital-based nurses are on the frontline of no-notice disaster events. They are supervised by a nurse executive (NE) who is responsible for the constant delivery of safe and competent nursing care, including during times of disaster. As a member of the hospital administrative team and Hospital Incident Command System, the NE is well positioned to maximize nurses’ safety and readiness. Specific actions by NEs during no-notice events are largely absent from the scientific literature. This non-experimental, descriptive, qualitative study aimed to describe the observations and actions of NEs (n = 6) who experienced at least one no notice disaster event. Domains from The International Council of Nurses Core Competencies in Disaster Nursing served as a framework for analysis. A collaborative thematic analysis then considered the real-life experience of NEs who supervised nurses’ response to a major no-notice disaster. NEs were amongst the first administrators to respond onsite. Communication was often most effective using personal cell phones. Nurses needed to make immediate life-saving decisions despite the absence of a formalized incident command structure. Many suffered from traumatic exposure and NEs facilitated immediate and long-term mental health support. This article describes our study methods and the seven themes that emerged from our analysis, along with implications for research and practice.
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Details
- Title
- Observations and Actions of Nurse Executives During No-Notice Disaster Events in the Hospital Setting
- Publication Details
- Online journal of issues in nursing, Vol.30(2)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- American Nurses Association
- Identifiers
- 99381454745406600
- Academic Unit
- School of Nursing; Usha Kundu, MD College of Health
- Language
- English