Nursing skills required across natural and man-made disasters: A scoping review

Aims: To map the nursing skills required for different types of disasters.

Design: This was a scoping review of research studies conducted between July and August 2021. We conducted a systematic literature search of nine electronic databases from inception till July 2021, and an updated search was done in April 2022. This review is based on the methodological framework of Arksey and O'Malley (2005), which was further refined by the Joanna Briggs Institute.

Data sources: A range of electronic databases was searched systematically, including CINAHL, Cochrane, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI and Ichushi-Web. Articles published in Chinese, English and Japanese were selected for the review.

Review methods: The PCC model was used to frame the inclusion criteria. Studies were screened, appraised and extracted by two reviewers, and the study findings were narratively synthesized.

Results: We identified nursing skills for five types of natural disasters including (1) earthquakes, (2) typhoons, (3) tsunamis, (4) marine disasters and (5) infectious diseases and three man-made disasters: (1) radiation disasters, (2) bioterrorism and (3) war. Among these, there are five types of common professional skills nurses are required to possess including casualty triage, observation and monitoring, basic first aid techniques, psychological care and communication skills. In addition, it was shown that different disasters require different specific professional skills.

Conclusion: This scoping review explored the disaster nursing skills required for eight types of disasters and provides evidence for future education and training. Further research is needed to build more accurate scenario-based simulation training programs to provide more insights into future disaster precision nursing.

Impact: This scoping review provides evidence for future education and training in disaster nursing to improve nurses' knowledge and competencies in dealing with the different types of disaster situations.