Factors Influencing on Core Competencies in Disaster Nursing by University Hospital Nurses’ Experiences of Caring for Patients with COVID-19

Purpose: Considering that nurses perform critical roles for caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to investigate core competencies in disaster nursing. This study aimed to identify influencing factors on core competencies in disaster nursing by examining relationships between attitudes toward disaster management, disaster preparedness, and core competencies in disaster nursing in university hospital nurses’ experiences of caring for patients with COVID-19. Methods: The participants were nurses working in two university hospitals who had either experiences of caring for patients with COVID-19 or no experiences. A questionnaire was distributed to 198 participants between October and November 2021. Results: The findings of multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the factors related to core competencies in disaster nursing in the participants were disaster preparedness (β=.80, p<.001) and nurses’ experiences of caring for patients with COVID-19 (β=.11, p=.007). Specifically, the factors related to core competencies in disaster nursing in those having experiences of direct caring for patients with COVID-19 were disaster preparedness (β=.84, p<.001) and marital status (β=.16, p=.001). The factors related to core competencies in disaster nursing in those with indirect caring for patients with COVID-19 were disaster preparedness (β=.75, p<.001) and an intention to participate in disaster response (β=.16, p=.037). Conclusion: Based on this study, it is important to develop disaster nursing education programs focusing on the full spectrum of disaster management including disaster preparedness, disaster response, and disaster recovery training © 2022. Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing