Challenges and Resources for Nurses Participating in a Hurricane
Sandy Hospital Evacuation
Nancy VanDevanter, RN, DrPH1 , Victoria H. Raveis, PhD2 , Christine T. Kovner, RN, PhD3 , Meriel McCollum,
BSN, RN4 , & Ronald Keller, PhD, MPA, RN, NE-BC5
1 Professor, New York University, Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York, NY, USA
2 Professor, New York University, College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA
3 Professor, New York University, Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York, NY, USA
4 PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
5 Senior Director of Nursing NYU Hospitals Center, New York University, Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
Key words
Nurse’s disaster experience, nurses’ disaster
preparedness education, Superstorm Sandy
Correspondence
Dr. Nancy VanDevanter, New York University,
College of Nursing, 433 1st Ave., New York, NY
10010. E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted May 13, 2017
doi: 10.1111/jnu.12329
Abstract
Purpose: Weather-related disasters have increased dramatically in recent
years. In 2012, severe flooding as a result of Hurricane Sandy necessitated
the mid-storm patient evacuation of New York University Langone Medical
Center. The purpose of this study was to explore, from the nurses’ perspective, what the challenges and resources were to carrying out their responsibilities, and what the implications are for nursing education and preparation for
disaster.
Design: This mixed-methods study included qualitative interviews with a
purposive sample of nurses and an online survey of nurses who participated in
the evacuation.