Designing and Integrating a Disaster Preparedness Curriculum: Readying Nurses for the Worst

Disaster incidents are on the rise. From natural disasters to war and conflict to infectious diseases, being prepared takes tremendous training and practice. Nurses are on the front lines of disaster relief and care, but too few are trained in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Also, too few nurse faculty have personal, real-world experience in responding to natural and man-made disasters.

So, where to start? How do faculty members fit one more topic into a nursing course or curriculum? And how do nurses stay on top of their game when it comes to disaster and emergency preparedness?

Designing and Integrating a Disaster Preparedness Curriculum: Readying Nurses for the Worst presents a curriculum blueprint for nurse educators that provides readers with best practices for implementation while avoiding pitfalls and mistakes. Disaster preparation experts Sharon Stanley and Thola Wolanski help ensure that nursing students are prepared to respond to disasters, whether in their own neighborhoods or around the world, by giving nurse educators strategies and solutions for incorporating disaster preparedness into their curricula.

About the Authors

Sharon A. R. Stanley, PhD, RN, RS, FAAN, COL (ret.), has served over 35 years in public health at local, state, and national levels and is an Army veteran with Vietnam, Desert Storm, and OIF/OEF service. From 2009 to 2013, she was Chief Nurse of the American Red Cross, where she served as senior health policy and planning leader and provided leadership to more than 15,000 Red Cross nurse volunteers. Stanley is a 2013 recipient of the International Red Cross Florence Nightingale Medal and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow alumna.

Thola A. Bennecoff Wolanski, MSN, RN, is Assistant Professor of Nursing Education at Elmira College and a Doctor of Nursing Practice candidate at Loyola University in Chicago. She has worked in critical care and emergency/trauma nursing for nearly 25 years. A Johns Hopkins University graduate, Wolanski developed the leadership model for disaster preparedness training that is presented in this text.