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Sunday, 25 September 2005 11:27 | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
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Researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health claim that healthcare workers are more likely to volunteer to help out after an environmental disaster rather than a disease outbreak.
The researchers assessed the ability and willingness of staff in New York to report to work in emergencies.
They found that eighty-four per cent of the 6,000 surveyed were willing to report for duty after an environmental disaster.
But just 48% said they would do the same during an outbreak of Sars, and over half said they would work during a radiological event, and 61% in the event of a smallpox epidemic.
Kristine Qureshi, who led the research, said: "Although we might assume that healthcare employees have an obligation to respond to these high impact events, our findings indicate that personal obligations, as well as concerns for their own safety play a pivotal role in workers' willingness to report to work”.
Robyn Gershon, associate professor of sociomedical sciences, at the Mailman School's National Centre for Disaster Preparedness, who also worked on the study, added: "Employers must recognise that their healthcare workers are likely to be as concerned or even more concerned about their safety than the average citizen, because they have a greater understanding of the risks involved”.
The research team say their findings are of practical importance because of the need to recognise a full workforce might not be available in such circumstances.
"If adequate numbers of staff members do not report to work, it could result in a situation where hospitals are unable to meet needs”.
Dr Qureshi added: "In terms of addressing workers fears, and therefore, their willingness to work, healthcare administrators should talk to their workers about their concerns regarding exposure and contagion, and, importantly, reassure them by describing in detail all of the steps the facility is planning to take to assure their safety”.
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