Nurses' disaster core competencies and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study from Turkey

Aim The aim of this study is to determine nurses' disaster core competency levels, compare them based on characteristics and examine the relationships with psychological resilience. Background Since nurses constitute a critical part in the health care services, it is important to understand the competencies and effective factors in their disaster preparedness. Methods The data were collected from 489 nurses between January and February 2021 with an introductory information form, the Nurses' Perceptions of Disaster Core Competencies Scale and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Results The nurses' level of disaster core competencies was above the average, and it was positively correlated with their psychological resilience. The nurses' disaster experiences made higher differences on their disaster core competencies when compared to their personal and professional characteristics. Conclusions It is important to provide disaster training and drills to all nurses on a regular basis. However, under disaster conditions, resilience should also be considered and included in the preparation plans for nurses to support their professional competencies and qualifications. Implications for nursing management Nurse managers should play a leadership role in planning disaster preparedness training for nurses, and these trainings should be addressed to cover both professional competencies and resilience for nurses to respond effectively to disasters.