Nurses’ Readiness for Catastrophe Management and Its Relation to Their Organizational Commitment: Recommendations for Education

Background. Catastrophes are challenging events for nations and health systems that require healthcare providers, especially nurses, to be prepared to respond effectively. Although nurses play a critical role in managing catastrophes and postcatastrophic situations, their preparedness is often inadequate and affected by their organizational commitment. Therefore, this study assessed nurses’ preparedness for catastrophe management and its relationship with their organizational commitment. Methods. A cross-sectional correlational, descriptive design involving 286 conveniently sampled nurses was conducted in four public hospitals in Hail city. Data were collected using a questionnaire that compiled two tools: the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool to assess nurses’ preparedness for catastrophe management and the Organizational Commitment Scale to assess their attachment to their hospitals. Correlations between mean scores of nurses’ knowledge, skills, and preparedness for postcatastrophe management and organizational commitment were tested using Spearman’s correlation, with a significance level of <0.05. Results. Most nurses had low levels of knowledge (79.7%), skills (78.7%), and preparedness for postcatastrophe management (78.7% each). Meanwhile, 57.3% of nurses had low levels of affective commitment to their hospitals, compared to 78.7% for continuance and normative commitments. Statistically significant positive, moderate correlations were found between nurses’ knowledge and skills in managing catastrophes (r = 0.512; p < 0.01) and knowledge and preparedness for postcatastrophe management (r = 0.492; p < 0.01), as well as nurses’ skills and preparedness for postcatastrophe management (r = 0.533; p < 0.01). However, the nurses’ level of organizational commitment was not significantly correlated with their knowledge, skills, or preparedness for postcatastrophe management. Conclusion. Nurses in Hail city are not adequately prepared to respond to and manage catastrophes and postcatastrophic situations, and they have low organizational commitments to their hospitals. Therefore, nursing education should integrate catastrophe management into the curricula, and hospital administrators should prioritize a supportive work environment that strengthens organizational commitment and provides ongoing education and regular training to improve nurses’ preparedness for catastrophe management.