Emergency Preparedness Of Nurses And Midwives In Accra, Ghana

Nurses are often the first responders in hospital emergencies, a greater emphasis on emergency preparedness in nursing education, as well as ongoing training and capacity building, is necessary. The study focused on the emergency preparedness of nurses and midwives at the Police Hospital in Accra of Ghana. It considered the knowledge of nurses and midwives on emergency and disaster preparedness; the roles of the nurses and midwives on emergency and disaster preparedness; and relevant training programmes of the nurses midwives on emergency preparedness and management. The study employed descriptive survey of the quantitative approach. Questionnaire was employed for 133 nurses and midwives that were selected with the aid of simple random sampling technique. The data was analysed using frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations with the aid of SPSS software version 26.  About 60% of respondents indicated they have training on emergency/disaster preparedness in the last 5 years. Close to 74% also revealed that emergency/disaster planning is a preparedness on what might be needed to be done, how to be done before and after. Most (64%) of respondents indicated they have adequate knowledge on safety precaution and management during emergency and disaster occurrence, however, few respondents (34.6%) indicated that the Police Hospital have bed capacity, equipment and logistics to cater for patients in the occurrence of an emergency/disaster.  The police hospital has a triage area and has a chain of command during a large scale emergency event. About 75.2% of respondent indicated they know how to triage in a large-scale and almost 79.7% of respondents know how to assess and respond to site safety issues for self, co-workers and affected people during a large-scale emergency event. About 91.7% agreed that there is a need for periodic training and lecture for the nurses and midwives whiles 88.7% indicated that emergency and disaster stimulation drills should be conducted frequently to adequately prepare the nurses and midwives for emergency events. The nurses and midwives had a moderate degree of perceived knowledge in emergency/disaster management. They were well-informed about their roles in emergency/disaster preparedness. Despite their limited knowledge and skills, the respondents were enthusiastic about emergency/disaster training and simulations