Caring for the caregivers and patients left behind: experiences of a volunteer nurse during Hurricane Katrina.
As a volunteer nurse deployed to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the author observed the need for honest and informative leadership, for volunteer flexibility and an "I'll-do-anything" mind-set, and for more advanced disaster training. This article describes the author's experiences and highlights how she learned those lessons. She advocates learning from the experiences of responders to recent national and international relief efforts to ensure the organizational and personal preparedness needed to deal with the complex ethical, moral, legal, and medical issues during a disaster.
Leiby
Sandra L
SL
Graduate School of Nursing, University of Massachusetts, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655, USA. sandra.leiby@umassmed.edu
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017028:Caregivers; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004190:Disasters; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D006282:Health Personnel; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008145:Louisiana; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D012011:Red Cross; D012066:Relief Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018635:Rescue Work; D020377:Self Efficacy; D018881:Suburban Health; D014838:Volunteers / Q000523:psychology*