Abstract
Background
Nurses play a pivotal role in disaster response processes; to manage these processes effectively, they require not only technical skills but also robust psychological resilience. Elucidating the relationship between psychological resilience and disaster preparedness is crucial for strengthening the preparedness of psychiatric nurses. This study was conducted to determine the predictive role of psychological resilience on disaster preparedness among psychiatric nurses.Methods
This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 140 psychiatric nurses. Data were collected using a "Personal Information Form," the "Psychological Preparedness for Disaster Threat Scale," and the "Brief Resilience Scale." Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, simple linear regression, independent samples t-test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed for data analysis.Results
The mean disaster preparedness score of the participants was 62.77 ± 13.79. Psychological resilience was a positive and significant predictor of disaster preparedness (β = 0.272, p = 0.001), explaining 6.7% of the variance. Disaster preparedness scores were significantly higher among nurses who had received formal disaster training (p = 0.003) and among those with five years or more of professional experience (p = 0.028). Nurses working exclusively on night shifts had lower disaster preparedness scores than those working day shifts or rotating shifts (p = 0.024); however, this finding should be interpreted cautiously due to the very small number of participants in the night-shift-only group.Conclusion
Although psychological resilience is a significant internal resource associated with nurses' disaster preparedness, it is not solely sufficient. Healthcare institutions should integrate psychological empowerment programs with applied and simulation-based disaster training and ensure that such training is accessible to all personnel regardless of shift schedules. Further studies with larger and more balanced shift groups are needed to clarify the role of shift schedules in disaster preparedness.Clinical trial number
Not applicable.