title: Disaster strikes! Long-term care resident outcomes following a natural disaster.
abstract: This report describes the outcomes of 17 long-term care residents who were participating in a nursing intervention study. The residents were evacuated for 5 days due to a severe summer storm that caused widespread power outages. These residents were seen the day of the storm and three times per week for 2 weeks following their return to the nursing home. More than half of the participants had significant changes in their NEECHAM Confusion Scale scores (n = 11) and modified Confusion Assessment Method scores (n = 9) scores, suggesting the onset of delirium. Two participants were hospitalized within the 2 weeks of the evacuation. One participant died unexpectedly. This report provides a rare look into the negative effects of a short-term evacuation due to a natural disaster.
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. pamelaca@nursing.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Pamela Z
authors.initials: PZ
authors.lastname: Cacchione
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Willoughby
authors.forename: Joanne C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Langan
authors.forename: Kennith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Culp
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004190:Disasters; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008134:Long-Term Care; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000458:organization & administration*