Major ArticleNurses and emergency disasters: What is known
Section snippets
Methods
Literature searches were conducted in 2 primary databases for English-language articles published in the last 20 years that related to the psychologic implications of disaster work, bioterrorism, and nurses and disaster work. The databases used were Ovid-Medline and PubMed. The World Wide Web was used to find on-line nursing journals, such as Nursing World. Additional literature was collected from experts in the field of bioterrorism preparedness and planning. The search and retrieval of
Psychologic implications
Experts working in the filed of disaster, such as by Ursano et al,1 describe the traumatic nature of public health emergencies and identify factors that may influence the experience of nurses working during such events. Their work suggests that there are predictable responses to trauma by both individuals and communities. The way in which those involved experience a traumatic event depends on the nature of the stressors and the mediators associated with the event. The nature of potential
Discussion
There are limitations in the research about variables that may influence nurses who are expected to work during a bioterrorism event. The studies that are used to approximate working conditions in a bioterrorism event describe the experiences of nurses working during natural disasters, multicasualty terror, or the events of September 11, 2001.16, 17, 19, 20, 21 Additionally, of the bioterrorism planning articles selected for this review, none include opinions of nurses.
Published reports
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