The Impact of Nurses Training and Applying Functional and Nonstructural Hospital Safety in Preparedness of Razi and Day Hospitals in Disasters Based on Hospital Safety Index

Background: Hospitals in Iran are not prepared for disasters; the aim of this study was to determine the effect of training functional and nonstructural hospital safety to nurses and their intervention on hospital preparedness in psychiatric Razi Hospital and Day Hospital in Tehran based on Hospital Safety Index (HSI). Materials  and  Methods:  This  semi-experimental  study  included  nurse  managers  of  Razi and Day hospitals as study sample. Research tool was checklist of hospital safety. Validity and reliability of the checklist was determined 93%. At first the checklist was filled out, then preparedness plan including a 1-day workshop about disaster management, functional and nonstructural safety and a table tab maneuvers held. Then, after two months, nonstructural and functional safety of the hospitals was re-evaluated by HSI checklist. Data were analyzed by using Excel file of the tool. Results: Findings showed that scores in most items of nonstructural and functional safety in HSI checklist significantly increased in two hospitals after workshop and nursing performance. Before intervention, these scores were 0.40 and 0.56 for Razi and Day hospitals, respectively which increased to 0.57, 0.86 after training. Conclusion: Results showed that teaching nonstructural and functional safety to nurses and using these principles by nurses can promote hospital safety and preparedness. Comparison between hospitals showed that allocating more budget and executive power to the nurses can increase further the hospital preparedness. Given the key role of nurses in disaster preparedness, it is recommended to teach and apply functional and nonstructural safety of hospitals to nursing managers.