In a disaster situation, nurses as a whole are responsible for knowing their hospital’s Emergency Operation Plan and their role in that plan. For example, knowing that in the event of a fire the nurse needs to rescue any patients in the immediate vicinity, sound the alarm, contain the fire by shutting doors and windows, and then extinguishing the fire. While the nurse might not know every detail of every plan, nurses should know where to report in the event of an emergency in order to get further instructions. Additionally, individual nurses might be involved in developing Emergency Operation Plans or serving a role in the Incident Command System.
Although nurses have an obligation to their patients, they also have an obligation to themselves. In the context of a natural disaster, I believe this means that the nurse has an obligation to ensure their own personal safety. If I’m trying to help a patient in a disaster and end up hurting myself, I just became another victim in need of help.
