Disaster Training

Key Findings

• Disaster training is considered a standard of nursing practice. Most nurses lack sufficient training in disaster nursing. Simulation is an effective means in preparing.
• Simulation-based mass casualty training strengthens disaster readiness by increasing nursing students’ confidence, role clarity, leadership identity, and interprofessional collaboration skills.
• Trust and psychological safety are foundational to disaster nursing competence. Mixed-methods findings demonstrate that structured simulation and guided reflection build trust in self, team, and systems which are critical for effective disaster response.
• Triage decision-making involves significant ethical and emotional complexity. Students report moral distress, role tension, and ethical ambiguity during simulated mass casualty incidents, highlighting the need for intentional ethics integration in preparedness education.
• Interdisciplinary simulations enhance communication, situational awareness, and real-world coordination skills more effectively than discipline-specific training.
• Leadership development during disaster simulation shapes professional identity formation, reinforcing preparedness as a core nursing role rather than an optional skill set.
• Family-focused disaster education strengthens community resilience, emphasizing preparedness as both a clinical and public health responsibility.

Recommendations

• Integrate high-fidelity, interdisciplinary mass casualty simulations into undergraduate and graduate nursing curricula to build disaster competency early and systematically.
• Embed structured ethical debriefing frameworks within disaster training to address moral distress and improve triage decision-making confidence.
• Incorporate leadership role assignments during simulation to foster role identity development and enhance command confidence in emerging nurses.
• Design disaster curricula that explicitly address trust-building, psychological safety, and interprofessional collaboration.
• Expand simulation partnerships between academic institutions and emergency services to better mirror real-world disaster systems.
• Develop family- and community-focused preparedness modules to extend disaster mitigation efforts beyond acute care settings.
  

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Publications:

Drake, J., Watson, A. L., Anderson, M., & Heaston, S. (2025). Building Trust and Confidence in Disaster Nursing: A Mixed‐Methods Critical Inquiry. Nursing Inquiry, 32(4), e70060. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.70060

Watson, A. L., Anderson, M., Drake, J., Heaston, S., *Schmutz, P., *Rasmussen, R., & *Reed, C. (2025). Nursing and emergency medical technician students’ perspectives on mass casualty simulation training: A phenomenological study. Nursing & Health Sciences, 27(2), e70104. https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.70104

Anderson, M., *Reed, C., Watson, A., Drake, J., Heaston, S., *Schmutz, P., & *Rasmussen, R. (2025). Lived experience of student responders with leadership in a mass casualty simulation. Journal of Professional Nursing, 58, 83–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.03.005

Watson, A.L., Drake, J., Anderson, M., Heaston, S., *Schmutz, P., *Reed, C., & *Rasmussen, R. (2024). Triage ethics in mass casualty incident simulation: A phenomenological exploration. Nursing Ethics. Nursing Ethics, 32(4), 1313-1236. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330241299526

Presentations:

Watson, A., Drake, J., Anderson, M., Heaston, S., Hartle, C, & Preece, L. (2025, July 17-20). Global Nursing Education Through Simulation Technology: Enhancing Mass Casualty Training [Conference Podium Presentation]. 36th International Nursing Research Congress: A Sigma Event. Seattle, WA, USA.

Anderson, M., *Schmutz, P., *Hartle, C., Watson, A., Heaston, S., Drake, J. (2025, June 19-22). Empowering Future Nurses: Elevating Disaster Response Skills and Role Identity

through an Interdisciplinary Mass Casualty Simulation with a Simulated Emergency Room [Conference Podium Presentation]. International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning Annual Conference 2025. Denver, CO, USA.

Anderson, M., Heaston, S., Watson, A., Drake, J., *Nelson, M., & *Preece, L. (2025, June 17-20). Teaching Disaster Preparedness to Strengthen Families in Challenging Times [Conference Podium Presentation]. 17th International Family Nursing Conference. Perth, Australia.

Anderson, M., *Reed, C., Watson, A., Drake, J., Heaston, S., *Schmutz, P., *Rasmussen, R. (2024, June 12-15). Coordinating A Campus Mass Casualty Simulation [Online Recorded Presentation]. International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation & Learning Annual Conference Virtual Extension.