Determination of disaster literacy status of nursing students and related factors

Abstract Aim This research was conducted to determine disaster literacy status and related factors of nursing students, an important and special power in health and social construction of the future. Materials and methods The research was conducted with 454 nursing students of a nursing faculty in Türkiye. Data were collected face-to-face using personal information form and Disaster Literacy Scale in November 2023. Data were evaluated using univariate analysis for scale total score and multivariate analysis for scale subdimensions. Results It was found that the disaster literacy status of 56.8% of nursing students was inadequate/limited. It was found that among the subdimensions of the Disaster Literacy Scale, the mean score of response subdimension was highest and the mean score of recovery subdimension was lowest. Disaster literacy status was affected by nursing student’s grade, their mother’s education, following disaster news, experiencing loss of life in disasters and participating in disaster drills. We found that following disaster news affected mitigation subdimension score; grade, following disaster news, experiencing injuries, and experiencing loss of life in disasters affected preparedness subdimension score; being an AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority) volunteer, experiencing loss of life in disasters, and participating in disaster drills affected the response subdimension score; grade, mother’s education level, being an AFAD volunteer, experiencing loss of life in disasters, disaster planning with family, and participating in disaster drills affected recovery subdimension score. Conclusion To increase the disaster literacy status of nursing students, it is recommended to create a good disaster literate nurse force by taking into account factors that affect disaster literacy status.