Emergency care in the context of armed conflict : Nurses’ perspectives of the essential core competencies

Journal article

Mani, Zakaria A., Kuhn, Lisa and Plummer, Virginia. (2023). Emergency care in the context of armed conflict : Nurses’ perspectives of the essential core competencies. International Nursing Review. 70(4), pp. 510-517. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12870
AuthorsMani, Zakaria A., Kuhn, Lisa and Plummer, Virginia
Abstract

Aim
To identify nurses’ perspectives of their core competencies for emergency care in the context of armed conflict.

Introduction
Emergency department's (ED) capacity is frequently overwhelmed by a sudden surge of patients when located near armed conflict. Although emergency nurses are key frontline responders, evidence detailing core competencies needed to work in these areas remains limited.

Method
The study used a cross-sectional survey design and is reported using STROBE guidelines. A validated questionnaire was administered in hospitals near the southern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen border, where emergency nurses regularly manage large numbers of patients from armed conflict.

Result
A total of 163 questionnaires were returned (68% response rate). Most participants were female and had more than six years of ED experience. The core competencies for emergency nurses working near armed conflict were identified and highly rated by participants: the highest mean value was 9.47/10 and the lowest was 8.89/10. Analysis revealed regular education, training and drills were needed to provide quality emergency nursing care for victims of armed conflict.

Conclusion and implications for nursing and health policy
This study provides new evidence regarding core competencies in emergency nursing care in the context of armed conflict. The identified competencies should be incorporated into future education, curricula, training programmes and evaluations to enable emergency nurses to function effectively in the context of armed conflict. The findings will assist decision-makers to develop plans and strategies for mitigating risk and improving the future nursing response in similar contexts.

Keywordsarmed conflicts; disasters; emergency nursing; hospitals; nurses; professional competence
Year2023
JournalInternational Nursing Review
Journal citation70 (4), pp. 510-517
PublisherJohn Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISSN0020-8132
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12870
PubMed ID37534434
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85166678666
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
Page range510-517
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online03 Aug 2023
Publication process dates
Accepted23 Jul 2023
Deposited03 Apr 2025
Additional information

© 2023 The Authors. International Nursing Review published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Council of Nurses.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

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