| خلاصه مقاله | Background: In recent years, the world has faced many events and crises, and for several decades, various aspects of bioterrorism, Chemical, Biological, Nuclear and Radioactive (CBRN) wars have led to death and financial loss. On the other hand, nurses, as the most populous group among medical personnel, have a very important role in critical situations. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and readiness of nurses working in emergency departments dealing with chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear accidents.
Methods and Materials: This descriptive study was conducted in 2018 on 310 nurses working in emergency departments of hospitals affiliated to Tabriz and Urmia Universities of Medical Sciences. In this study, data were collected by convenience method. In order to data collection, demographic questionnaire and knowledge and attitude questionnaire were used. Emergency preparedness information questionnaire also used to assess the preparedness. Questionnaires were evaluated for content validity. The reliability of the questionnaires was also assessed by internal correlation method (Knowledge Questionnaire (α=0.84), Attitude Questionnaire (α = 0.7) and Urgent Readiness Questionnaire (α=0.98)). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS software version 18.
Results: In this study, the mean age of nurses was 34 years and the mean work experience was 5.60 years. 82.2% of nurses had a bachelor's degree. 68.7% of nurses had not completed any courses related to chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear accidents. The overall mean (standard deviation) of knowledge, attitude and readiness scores were 9.7 (3.58), 29.31 (6.10) and 57.95 (17.98) respectively. Nurses' knowledge and attitude in the face of chemical, biological, nuclear and radioactive accidents were at a moderate to low level and nurses' readiness in the face of these accidents was in a low level.
Conclusion: According to the results of the study, nurses as the first line of care and treatment, need to be aware of chemical, biological, nuclear and radioactive accidents, and training emergency nurses in relation to these accidents is essential. These trainings can be in the form of curriculum development in nursing education or In-service nursing education. |