Abstract:
Data indicated a considerable increase in the number of disasters and their victims in Indonesia during
2000-2013. The trend of significant increase of disaster cases comes with the greater magnitude of the
disaster’s impacts. Disaster is a complex situation. It demands specific knowledge, skills and other
essential things to be able to plan ahead and respond to the disaster situation in an effective manner
within a short period of time. This study aimed to explore the needs of competency of the nurses
working in a disaster response situation in Indonesia. The study was a qualitative study using semistructured
interview to explore 10 nurses with experiences of working in a disaster response. The
participants were recruited using snowball-sampling method. Content analysis was used to identify
categories of disaster nursing competency. Furthermore, focus group discussion was performed to
validate and explore unclear identified nursing competencies, which were emerged, from the content
analysis. Four main categories were identified in this study: (1) basic personal attitudes competency,
(2) disaster nursing care competency, (3) leadership and managerial competency, and (4) professional
development competency. All emerged categories and subcategories in this study described the
nurse’s competencies that are needed to respond a disaster event in Indonesia. This study might
contribute to the content development of the education and training program of the disaster nurses,
particularly those who are assigned to the disaster area during the respond phase.
