Understanding the Willingness of Australian Emergency Nurses to Respond to a Disaster

Abstract

This study of emergency nurses has confirmed previous findings that willingness of health care workers to work during a disaster is multidimensional; that is, affected by many competing factors. Previous literature has identified that there are a number of factors that impact on willingness to respond to disasters. The factors that this research supports are: personal safety, family and pet safety, professional duty, previous experience, trust in the employer ability, psychological supports, and knowledge. Other factors explored in this study to provide an additional view included age, gender, and family responsibilities. This study also examined a number of less known factors such as volunteering, leadership in the workplace and collegiality. This study has shown that there are a number of things that management can do to influence and increase the willingness of nurses to attend work.