Mapping the Disaster Competency Landscape in Undergraduate Nursing: A Case Study of Nursing Educators in British Columbia, Canada
Date
2018-11-22
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Abstract
The province of British Columbia in Canada is experiencing an increase in both natural and human made disasters as evidenced by recent forest fires, floods, and avalanches. Nurses are known to be one of the largest groups of health care workers and are often challenged to care for members of the public during these events. Many nurses have stated that they do not have enough education to provide quality care in a disaster role, as they received no education in their undergraduate nursing degrees. This qualitative case study explored four questions through the lens of ten British Columbia Nursing Educators using an adult learning framework. These questions are: How are disaster competencies currently taught? How do educators determine relevant content, learning activities, outcomes, and assessment criteria? What challenges, supports, and resources that have influenced educators in designing and integrating disaster competencies into their curricula? What recommendations can be offered for other educators? The findings from this study indicated that disaster nursing knowledge is taught either within an existing global health course or rarely is levelled throughout the program. Content is determined by the educator and is delivered by expert guest speakers, as well as didactic lectures, or simulation; however, no specific model is used. Many challenges exist to educators, which include lack of resources, workload, and instructor knowledge. Recommendations include the development of a British Columbia generalist undergraduate disaster nursing model to enhance educator and student learning and the development of context specific content.
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Nursing, disaster, Education
Citation
McKenzie, W. M. (2018). Mapping the Disaster Competency Landscape in Undergraduate Nursing: A Case Study of Nursing Educators in British Columbia, Canada (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/34539