In 1909, Jane Delano established nursing's role in the American Red Cross. Delano became known for her zeal for having a large group of nurses ready to serve in times of war and natural disasters.
Today, nurses comprise the largest group of healthcare providers, yet many schools of nursing have limited disaster preparedness course work. This might be due to a lack of faculty expertise and/or nursing curriculum requirments that allow little leeway for additional subject matter.
A 2005 article in the journal Nursing Education Perspectives suggested that "if beginning practitioners are to meet basic competencies in disaster preparedness, the nursing profession must find creative ways to generate cost-efficient and effective educational content and delivery systems."
Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Mich., has embarked on a cost-efficient and effective strategy to implement disaster preparedness into an Associate Degree Nursing curriculum. From January 2005 through June 2007, the Schoolcraft Nursing Department entered into a pilot project partnership with the Southeastern Chapter of the American Red Cross, Detroit. Each student received approximately 35 hours of Red Cross training regarding key elements of disaster preparedness. The workshops prepared students to participate in blood drives, become disaster action team members, present community disaster education seminars, establish and participate in comfort kit and blanket drives for homeless shelters, and participate in FEMA-sponsored community disaster drills. Schoolcraft nursing students contributed more than 10,000 hours of service learning activities to their communities each year, helping the Red Cross accomplish its mission in the community.
Schoolcraft benefitted from the partnership by having students take part in free training workshops in disaster preparedness education. By partnering with the Red Cross, Schoolcraft embedded 120 service learning hours into the credit hours assigned to nursing courses and approved by the Michigan State Board of Nursing. This spared the school of nursing the cost of having nursing faculty teach the content.
At the end of the two-year program, more than 90% of students reported an understanding of the function of a nonprofit organization and its impact on the health and safety of the community. Additionally, more than 90% of students reported they understood a nurse's role in a mass casualty event, and more than 65% said they had a level of expertise regarding community interventions during a mass casualty event.
The Red Cross also benefited from this partnership, as students provided more than 400 community disaster presentations reaching out to well over 8,000 people. Students participated in more than 840 blood drives and helped respond to more than 650 emergency calls to victims of local disasters.
The American Red Cross has posted the project as a "Best Practice" on its national Web site. The Schoolcraft project also was part of a presentation that was enthusiastically received at an American Nurses Association conference in Atlanta last year.
The project also received the Michigan Campus Compact Award for Community Service in 2006 and was presented at the International Nursing Research Conference in partnership with the World Health Organization in Jerusalem in July.
Schoolcraft students learned the strategic role nurses play in maintaining the health and safety of their communities. In an anonymous student survey, one participant noted "work in disaster preparedness for the Red Cross started out as a community assignment and ended up as a commitment to the community."
Marlynn J. Marroso, RN, MSN, is a member of the nursing faculty at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Mich. Al Kirkland, RN, is the disaster health specialist for the Southeastern Chapter of the American Red Cross, Detroit. Diane Johnson is the director of volunteer and youth services for the Southeastern Chapter of the American Red Cross, Detroit.
To comment, e-mail editorMW@nursingspectrum.com.
Today, nurses comprise the largest group of healthcare providers, yet many schools of nursing have limited disaster preparedness course work. This might be due to a lack of faculty expertise and/or nursing curriculum requirments that allow little leeway for additional subject matter.
A 2005 article in the journal Nursing Education Perspectives suggested that "if beginning practitioners are to meet basic competencies in disaster preparedness, the nursing profession must find creative ways to generate cost-efficient and effective educational content and delivery systems."
Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Mich., has embarked on a cost-efficient and effective strategy to implement disaster preparedness into an Associate Degree Nursing curriculum. From January 2005 through June 2007, the Schoolcraft Nursing Department entered into a pilot project partnership with the Southeastern Chapter of the American Red Cross, Detroit. Each student received approximately 35 hours of Red Cross training regarding key elements of disaster preparedness. The workshops prepared students to participate in blood drives, become disaster action team members, present community disaster education seminars, establish and participate in comfort kit and blanket drives for homeless shelters, and participate in FEMA-sponsored community disaster drills. Schoolcraft nursing students contributed more than 10,000 hours of service learning activities to their communities each year, helping the Red Cross accomplish its mission in the community.
Schoolcraft benefitted from the partnership by having students take part in free training workshops in disaster preparedness education. By partnering with the Red Cross, Schoolcraft embedded 120 service learning hours into the credit hours assigned to nursing courses and approved by the Michigan State Board of Nursing. This spared the school of nursing the cost of having nursing faculty teach the content.
At the end of the two-year program, more than 90% of students reported an understanding of the function of a nonprofit organization and its impact on the health and safety of the community. Additionally, more than 90% of students reported they understood a nurse's role in a mass casualty event, and more than 65% said they had a level of expertise regarding community interventions during a mass casualty event.
The Red Cross also benefited from this partnership, as students provided more than 400 community disaster presentations reaching out to well over 8,000 people. Students participated in more than 840 blood drives and helped respond to more than 650 emergency calls to victims of local disasters.
The American Red Cross has posted the project as a "Best Practice" on its national Web site. The Schoolcraft project also was part of a presentation that was enthusiastically received at an American Nurses Association conference in Atlanta last year.
The project also received the Michigan Campus Compact Award for Community Service in 2006 and was presented at the International Nursing Research Conference in partnership with the World Health Organization in Jerusalem in July.
Schoolcraft students learned the strategic role nurses play in maintaining the health and safety of their communities. In an anonymous student survey, one participant noted "work in disaster preparedness for the Red Cross started out as a community assignment and ended up as a commitment to the community."
Marlynn J. Marroso, RN, MSN, is a member of the nursing faculty at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Mich. Al Kirkland, RN, is the disaster health specialist for the Southeastern Chapter of the American Red Cross, Detroit. Diane Johnson is the director of volunteer and youth services for the Southeastern Chapter of the American Red Cross, Detroit.
To comment, e-mail editorMW@nursingspectrum.com.
