Lesson 16 Discussion

NUR4636

Case Study

Chapter 17 – Being Prepared: Impact of Disaster, Terrorism, and War

Many opportunities are available for both student nurses and experienced community health nurses to become involved in emergency preparedness and response efforts. A disaster is any event that causes a level of destruction that exceeds the abilities of the affected community to respond without assistance. Disasters may be caused by natural or man-made/technologic events and may be classified as multiple-casualty incidents or mass-casualty incidents. Student nurses are developing a plan on how to approach the upcoming community-wide disaster drill.

1. What characteristics of disasters, including

causation, number of casualties, scope, and

intensity, should the student nurses consider? 2. What factors contribute to a community’s

potential for experiencing a disaster? 3. What are the four phases of disaster

management that must be included in the

student nurses planning for the drill? 4. Using the levels of prevention, what is the role of

the community health nurse in relations to acts

of chemical, biologic, or nuclear terrorism?