Where were you when the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center? Do you remember what you were doing when Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana coastline? Do you remember the tsunami that hit Indonesia? What about the earthquake that leveled Haiti? All of these events were turning points in history and have had an impact on how the world powers operate and collaborate, as well as how the US does business with other countries. These events have even affected how we pack when we travel by plane. If you were a nurse when these events occurred, did you help with the recovery efforts? As you look forward, would you consider helping with the recovery in the wake of disasters?

In this discussion, you will take a closer look at the role of public health nurses in assisting with disaster management and recovery. In your reading, you will discover the agencies that will prepare you both personally and professionally to impart care at the point of need in a disaster. Disaster training is an ever-evolving educational process; far from static, it has changed dramatically since the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. As presented in Workshop Five, you chose a disaster topic to research.  In this discussion, post your findings for your peers. Come ready to learn how to prepare your home, your family, and your professional self to deal with a disaster.

Upon successful completion of the course material, you will be able to:

• Differentiate various roles and responsibilities of nurses throughout the disaster management cycle.
• Describe the collaborative effort between nurses, interprofessional colleagues, and community stakeholders in the disaster management cycle.

  Resources

  • Textbook: Public Health Nursing: Population-centered Health Care in the Community

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  Background Information

  In Workshop Five, 5.4 Discussion: Selection of Disaster Topic, you selected one of the choices for discussion concerning disaster management. During Workshop Six, you will share a brief synopsis of that topic and discuss the impact of nursing and interprofessional collaboration throughout the process.

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  Instructions

  1. Review the appropriate rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
  2. Read Chapter 23 and review Chapter 15 in the textbook, Public Health Nursing: Population-centered Health Care in the Community.
  3. Prepare to discuss the following prompts:
     1. Share the topic you chose and include a brief (two-paragraph, 200-word) synopsis.
     3. The Topic is (Give a list of the people in charge if the disaster were to happen in your community.  What are their responsibilities?)
     4. Describe the roles and responsibilities of nurses involved, and the phase(s) of the disaster management cycle addressed through this offering. If the role of the nurse is not mentioned in your course, describe your thoughts on the nurse’s roles in this scenario.
     5. Discuss the impact of collaboration between nursing, interprofessional colleagues, and community stakeholders evident within the course offering.
  4. Research and select at least two current scholarly sources to support your explanations and insights. Wikipedia is not permitted, as it is not a peer-reviewed, scholarly source.
  5. Whether written or spoken, interactions are expected to:
     1. clearly and thoroughly address the prompt with meaningful information that shows critical thinking.