Vivien De Back, PhD, RN, FAAN
The Wisconsin Nurses Association (WNA) has responded to the national call to create and sustain a public health infrastructure that promotes adequate community responses to bioterrorism attacks and other emergencies. The federal government has awarded grant dollars to Wisconsin for the creation of a credible, reliable, and effective public health system through the homeland security agenda.
Because WNA recognizes the importance and the value of having nurses involved in the development and execution of a strategy that supports the education and training of emergency responders, the association convened a summit on emergency preparedness. Nurses are the common denominator throughout any emergency preparedness activity. What this activity is, how it is performed, and where it is performed needs to be determined.
On September 26-28, 2002, a nursing leadership summit was convened for the purpose of identifying how nurses can assist the leadership in this state in achieving a successful statewide emergency preparedness plan. Three American Academy of Nursing leaders took part in three days of information sharing and strategic planning.
CDR Mary W. Chaffee, MS, RN, FAAN, U.S. Navy Deputy Director, Navy Medicine Office of Homeland Security, was a member of a panel speaking on “Preparing for Response and Recovery Following Mass Casualties from a Biological, Nuclear, Chemical or Explosive Events.”
Betsy Weiner, PhD, RN, FAAN, Senior Associate Dean for Educational Informatics, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, spoke on a panel addressing curriculum development, telemedicine and innovative teaching methods for emergency preparedness. Dr. Weiner informed the group about the International Nursing Coalition for Mass Casualty Education which she directs at Vanderbilt
Vivien De Back, PhD, RN, FAAN, Nurse Consultant, was the WNA group facilitator for the three-day conference.
The summit participant's generated thoughts and strategies on issues related to the following categories: Education and Training, Curriculum Content, Connectivity and Resources, and Management and Tracking. The next steps for the WNA in this process of identifying nurses' role and responsibility includes:
•Sharing strategies for action with the Division of Pubic Health and creating a timeline for moving forward.
•Identify the education and training needs of nurses throughout the state using a “Town Hall” approach and video conferencing.
•Partner with the schools of nursing for the purpose of evaluating curriculum models for student and practicing nurses
•Meet with other healthcare professional groups to determine curriculum needs to avoid duplication of effort.
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