Successes and Challenges Associated with Non-traditional Partnership between a School of Nursing and Public Health Agency to Strengthen Medical Reserve Corps Response
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Background/ Issue: Nurses, as the largest group of health care professionals, play an essential role in the public health and hospital system disaster preparedness infrastructure. Nursing students are a viable resource that could assist nurses and other healthcare personnel with surge response and point of distributions (POD) during disasters. The ability for nursing students to volunteer during disasters was facilitated by a unique between an academic and public health partnership requiring Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) membership for all graduating nursing students.
Description: The disaster nursing education was part of a population health nursing course in a pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing program. Health Department MRC leaders provided MRC orientation to nursing students during scheduled lecture time. MRC leaders provided an additional training involving an MRC-facilitated POD lecture and tabletop exercise during course clinical time. All students were required to be badged with MRC and enrolled in disaster response volunteer notification system. Finally, students participated in an inter-professional, full-scale, exercise-based disaster simulation exercising the University’s POD plan.
Lessons Learned: School of Nursing participation with local Health Department and Hospital Preparedness Coalition facilitates inter-professional disaster preparedness education for students. Nursing student enrollment in MRC should be optional, as students relocate. Requiring all students to participate in MRC strains Health Department employee resources and may not increase volunteers.
Implications/recommendations: MRC involvement with disaster training facilitates high fidelity, inter-professional disaster simulation training. Nursing students interested in disaster nursing, when properly trained, are useful resources for disaster exercising personnel, staffing PODs, and assisting with Community Assessment Surveys for Emergency Response.
