To work or not to work: An analysis of the willingness of Australian emergency nurses to respond to a disaster

Laura Bahnisch presented on behalf of our research team, the key findings from our project that explored the willingness of Australian emergency nurses to attend their workplace in a disaster.

The recent extreme weather events in Queensland and Victoria highlight that natural disasters occur regularly in Australia. Arguably, the Australian health care system has had little experience with disasters that overwhelm health resources. This raises questions about the ability of health care providers to respond under conditions of increased demands and personal vulnerability. International experience, including earthquakes in Japan [2011], Christchurch [2011] and Haiti [2009], has shown that uncertainty about their safety and that of their family and friends may prevent nurses from attending work during a disaster. An understanding of the factors that enable or disable nurses’ disaster preparedness will underpin future disaster policy and planning for Australian and international health care organisations.

A study of the willingness of Australian emergency nurses to respond to a disaster was conducted. A 3-phase mixed-method design was used, consisting of a national survey, focus groups and in-depth interviews with emergency nurses at four hospitals. This presentation builds upon preliminary results delivered at the 8th International Conference for Emergency Nurses (2010). The findings indicate that emergency nurses’ willingness to respond to disasters is dependent on a number of factors, including their out-of-work responsibilities, changes to their roles at work, their confidence in management, protective equipment and work teams, the information received, the type of disaster and the degree of risk involved. The nurses’ willingness also differs according to their age, family status, personal preparedness and disaster related qualifications. These and other factors will be examined, exploring the implications for individual nurses and planners.



Bahnisch L*, Arbon P, Cusack L, Ranse J, Shaban R, Hammad K, Considine J, Mitchelle B. (2011). To work or not to work: An analysis of the willingness of Australian emergency nurses to respond to a disaster; paper presented at the 9th International Conference for Emergency Nurses, Adelaide, South Australia, 30th September.

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Industrial considerations for nurses responding to disasters

Shane Lenson presented on behalf of our research team, the key findings from our project that explored all Australian Nursing Enterprise Bargaining Arrangements / Agreements for the provision of entitlements for nurses who assist in a disasters.

 Shane Lenson presenting our work - will you get paid in responding to a disaster?

By definition, disasters are events that reply on human and/or physical resources from other jurisdictions to assist in response and recovery. Within the Australian out-of-hospital environment, nurses have been deployed from various States and Territories to assist in the response to events such as the Victorian Bushfires [2009] and the Queensland floods [2011]. Similarly, nurses have been deployed overseas to assist in events such as the Christchurch earthquake [2011], Samona tsunami [2009] and Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and tsunami [2004], just to mention a few. It is reasonable to assume, nurses are likely to continue a role in the health response to a disaster. However, consideration needs to be given to the industrial agreements for nurses when released from their normal employment arrangements to assist in a disaster event.

An evaluation of the various public hospital nursing employment agreements was undertaken in 2011, to discern the requirements, conditions, allowances and entitlements of nurses responding to disasters. This presentation will outline the findings from this evaluation. In particular the findings will highlight the major differences between States and Territories agreements in terms of disaster response provisions and entitlements. Findings will highlight the diverse range of information regarding disaster response in agreements; from an absence of any information, through to clear explanation regarding eligibility requirements, salary and leave entitlements. The diversity of conditions described within the agreements possesses a number of questions about the equity, suitability and workforce planning during times of disasters.

 Shane Lenson presenting our work

Lenson S*, Ranse J, Cusack L. (2011). Industrial considerations for nurses responding to disasters; paper presented at the 9th International Conference for Emergency Nurses, Adelaide, South Australia, 30th September.

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Understanding the Willingness of Australian Nurses to respond to a disaster

This final report of the project ‘Understanding the Willingness of Australian Nurses to Respond to a Disaster’ was launched at the 9th International Conference for Emergency Nurses, held in Adelaide on 29th September 2011. The launch included an overview of the report, and key findings.

Speakers at the launch (left-to-right): Professor Paul Arbon (Chief Investigator), Dr Julie Considine (Co-Investigator), and the Honourable John Hill MP, (South Australia, Minister for Health).

Arbon P, Cusack L, Ranse J, Shaban R, Considine J, Mitchell B, et al. (2011). Understanding the willingness of Australian emergency nurses to respond to a disaster. Adelaide: Flinders University.

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Exploring the role of nurses during the ‘Black Saturday’ and Victorian bushfires of 2009 in Australia

Shane Lenson presented on behalf of our research team, the key findings from our project that explored the role of nurses who assisted in the 2009 Black Saturday and Victorian Bushfires.

The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that burned across the Australian state of Victoria. Extreme bushfire-weather conditions, resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life and property from a bushfire. A total of 173 people died, 414 were injured, over 2030 houses, and 3500 structures were destroyed. Nurses provided clinical care, amongst other activities, in the pre-hospital environment during these fires. To date, there is a lack of literature regarding the experience of nurses in this environment. As such, this research explored the experience of nurses who assisted in the pre-hospital environment during the Victorian bushfires.

This research was descriptive and exploratory in nature using semi-structure interview as a means of data collection. Twelve nursing members of St John Ambulance Australia participated in the interviews which were electronic recorded and transcribed verbatim. Their narrative was them thematically analysed using a well-established human science approach. The findings identified two main themes and a number of sub-themes. The first theme: being prepared, included the subthemes of adequate clinical experience, appropriate level of training and enough resources. The second theme: expansive roles included the subthemes of minimal clinical care, emotional supporter, incident commander and administrator.

This research has provided valuable insight into the personal preparedness and nursing roles during the Black Saturday and Victorian bushfires of 2009. It has demonstrated that nurses are adaptable to their clinical environment and community needs, in a nursing role is that expansive beyond that of traditional images of nurses providing care in disasters.

Lenson S*, Ranse J. (2011). Exploring the role of nurses during the ‘Black Saturday’ and Victorian bushfires of 2009 in Australia; paper presented at the 9th International Conference for Emergency Nurses, Adelaide, South Australia, 29th September.

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