Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.31306/s.66.3.8
Specifics of nursing care during emergency situations
Barbara Radman
; Klinička bolnica Merkur, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Iskra Alexandra Nola
; Škola narodnog zdravlja "Andrija Štampar", Zagreb, Hrvatska
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
An emergency is defined as an event caused by a natural disaster and/or human action. The emergencies’ consequences can endanger the population, cause human victims, damage to property, and make an unstable economic situation. During an emergency, due to many victims and the scarce or inadequate resources for treatment, the healthcare system could be overloaded. Large-scale emergencies often lead to an overload of the health system due to the unavailability of material and human resources to care for many victims. Most often, it is a question of a lack of personnel, transport vehicles, medical equipment, and medicines. Nurses comprise the largest part of the healthcare workforce, providing professional assistance to many victims during an emergency. All segments of healthcare and almost all health personnel may become involved, at some level, in health emergency response and recovery. In the hospital system, the work of nurses is organized around-the-clock, however, every emergency requires certain adjustments of nursing care. Nurses must be familiar with specific disaster plans and protocols for their workplace, to be prepared and ready to participate in case of staff mobilization, to prioritize patients in evacuation and transport decisions, and maintain personal safety and safety at work, including specific protective workplace and disaster safety measures. Besides, they oversee patients' safety and protection. Floods, earthquakes, and epidemics (specifically the COVID-19 pandemic) are characteristic disasters in the Republic of Croatia and represent an immediate risk to the life and health of the population with a possible long-term impact on the environment. This paper shows the specifics of nursing care on the example of the mentioned disasters.
Keywords
COVID-19, emergencies, floods, earthquake, nursing care, safety at work
Hrčak ID:
321103
URI
Publication date:
2.10.2024.
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