- What are the nurse’s primary roles and responsibilities in the event of a disaster (natural or man-made)?
A nurse needs to know about the disaster plan within their facility and know what could be expected of them to help in case of the event of a disaster. As a new grad nurse or a new nurse in any environment, it would be important to ask about the policies for disasters if they are not mentioned in orientation. Nurses will be looked on to help with the effort to protect the facility and their patients in any way that their facility’s disaster plan asks. For an example with Hurricane Sandy in 2012, on the night that many hospitals and facilities in the New York City metropolitan area if you were on shift, you had a large task in front of you that you may or may not have seen coming. Living only a few miles outside of New York City, I remember this storm well and could not imagine being a healthcare worker during this event and potentially be in a facility that loses power. Many patients were at risk based on how much we rely on technology to assist with care especially cardiac telemetry units and critical care patients who were potentially on ventilators or other mechanical life-sustaining equipment. One responsibility to gain is to be comfortable with uncomfortable situations and be ready for anything and everything to go wrong at any time. Being able to work with all members of the organization and willing to help in anyway, being flexible and prioritize health and safety of everyone involved is essential.
- As nurses, it is often our compassionate nature that compels us to help others in need. In the event of a disaster, ethical components come into play. Provision 2 of the ANA Code of Ethics states that a nurse’s primary responsibility is to the patient, yet Provision 5 of the Code also states that a nurse owes the same duty to self. Discuss your thoughts on the two ethical codes in the context of a natural or man-made disaster.
This is a tough ethical dilemma that is very situation dependent in my opinion. As a nurse, yes your primary responsibility is to advocate and provide safety and safe care to your patients but that is dependent on if it is a safe environment for you. In the case of a disaster and asked to assist in particularly dangerous situations I believe it should be your choice to volunteer to put yourself in more danger. Your patients are in their most vulnerable state when in a hospital seeking care so they often are unable to care for themselves and would require someone to step up and potentially risk their own health and safety but that shouldn’t automatically mean you are required to hypothetically go into a burning building. I believe most individuals pick the nursing profession because at their core they care about helping people and are compassionate and often times put others in front of themselves especially when it comes to self-care, but we have the right to say no if it is a dangerous environment. Following the facility’s disaster policies as best as possible but being aware of your own health and safety would be the fine balance. In order to continue to provide care to others is dependent on your own health status so it would be beneficial to evaluate each situation as it arises.
