Disaster Nursing: Looking to the future in Norway

Abstract

Health resilience is an integral part of disaster management and lies at the nexus between this and public health considerations. As the largest group of professionals worldwide, nurses face continual challenges in further developing their competences in disaster response and recovery. This paper investigates the trajectory, role and future expectations of the Norwegian nursing profession in health emergency and disaster planning, and offers a future research agenda for those interested in investigating the complex inter-relationship between disaster management and nursing. The paper seeks to respond to observations made in a recent Norwegian report (2013) on behalf of the Norwegian nursing association that highlights the need to investigate nurses’ knowledge in relation to emergency/disaster plans especially in the community health care system. The paper will explore the conceptual nuances between emergencies and disasters and then comments upon supplementary observations of the need for identifying disaster nursing practices and training programs to prepare nurses. By taking this approach, the paper also seeks to provide insights into how future demands of improving nurses ́ capacities or implementation as leaders in disaster management – as highlighted by several International studies. In addition, by offering a future research agenda, the intention is that this may contribute to exploration of the role of nursing in handling long-term implications of disaster management.