Nursing Experience on Disaster and Health Emergencies

This chapter aims to elaborate on how nursing deals with disasters through disaster nursing activities with nursing science. Nurses support and care for the injured and survivors in the affected areas after a disaster, aid the victims of natural disasters with the recovery for the mid- and long-term periods, and offer prevention education to the public and other nurses for future disasters. Furthermore, when natural disasters inevitably inflict human suffering, nurses are expected to respond and provide services, including post-disaster mitigation during these catastrophic times. Disasters cause injuries, death, and destruction of infrastructure and continue to adversely affect communities at all levels, including healthcare communities. The various reports demonstrate a practical issue that might contribute to the scientific approach toward improving preparedness and response outcomes in nursing educational institutions, health organizations, and the public as we know that each disaster has uniqueness. Considering the variety, frequency, and severity of disasters, what has been accomplished is still limited. Through networking and collaboration, it requires more investigations of care needs in a disaster-affected area in the early phase. It reinforces coordination between networks of various organizations such as academic societies, professional associations, and educational institutions. Special topics in disaster settings that the health sector requires should also be explained. Also, community empowerment is needed to be focused on this issue. How to make such activities effective and efficient is an issue to be considered to achieve SDGs as DRR.