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Emergency care in the context of armed conflict : Nurses’ perspectives of the essential core competencies
Mani, Zakaria A. Kuhn, Lisa Plummer, Virginia
Mani, Zakaria A.
Kuhn, Lisa
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.
Keywords
armed conflicts, disasters, emergency nursing, hospitals, nurses, professional competence
Date
2023
Type
Journal article
Journal
International Nursing Review
Book
Volume
70
Issue
4
Page Range
510-517
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
File Access
Open
Notes
© 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.