Evaluation of an instrument to measure nurses' familiarity with emergency preparedness.
The events of September 11, 2001, and the 2005 devastation of Hurricane Katrina have emphasized the importance of educating all nurses in emergency preparedness and bioterrorism.


METHODS
Further evaluation (secondary data analysis) of the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ) was conducted, to assess nurses familiarity with emergency preparedness.


RESULTS
This study confirmed that the EPIQ, as revised, has sound psychometric characteristics (construct validity and internal reliability) as a tool to measure nurses' self-reported level of familiarity with emergency preparedness.


CONCLUSIONS
Additional studies using the revised EPIQ should provide data to assist civilian and military nurse educators and to facilitate the development of competency-based, relevant, emergency preparedness curricula.
Garbutt
Susan J
SJ
Galen School of Nursing, St. Petersburg, FL 33702, USA.
Peltier
James W
JW
Fitzpatrick
Joyce J
JJ
D002959:Civil Defense / Q000193:education* / Q000458:organization & administration; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008888:Military Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States