Evaluation of the use of the “Natural Disaster Preparedness Scale for Hospital Nursing Departments” tool in Japan

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the use of the “ Natural Disaster Preparedness Scale for Hospital Nursing Departments ” tool, before applying it in real health settings. Methods: The study subjects were representatives of nursing departments in hospitals across Japan and nursing managers in charge of disaster prevention and response within these hospitals. In this two-phased study, 5,093 hospitals were informed about the development of the Scale and invited to test it. Five months later, a questionnaire was sent to these hospitals by postal mail, to seek feedback on their use of the Scale. In the second phase, participants were invited to use an online version of the Scale and provide feedback about it. Results: Survey responses for Phase 1 were obtained from 1,366 hospitals (26.8%). The uptake of the Scale was extremely limited, with only 5.3% (n = 72) of the hospitals reporting having used it. Sixty-two out of 72 hospitals (86.1%) that had used the Scale answered they would like to use the Scale again. In Phase 2, the Scale was provided online. It was used 214 times by 186 hospitals, and the evaluation items were completed by 29 hospitals that used it frequently. Conclusions: Implementing systems in Japanese hospitals to measure how nurses prepare for disasters is a complex process. The majority of nurses in Japan remain to be convinced that their disaster preparedness can be measured by a validated Scale. Further education in Japan ’ s hospitals will be necessary to change these perspectives, given that nurses ’ preparation for such emergencies is mandated by law in their role as nurses in disaster base hospitals.