The Experiences of Nurses Serving as Medical Volunteers in the Disaster Emergency Response Phase

Introduction: Background: Indonesia in Ring of Fire is one of 35 countries worldwide facing potentially affected by various natural disasters. The disaster management phases commence with pre-disaster preparedness, emergency response, and post-disaster recovery. Nurses are the frontline healthcare professionals involved in disaster management, particularly during the emergency response phase. Purpose: This study aims to describe nurses’ experiences as medical volunteers in the disaster emergency response phase. Method A qualitative exploratory design was carried out with a descriptive phenomenological approach. This research engaged 11 nurses from Lamongan City who participated in disaster responses team across settings level selected by purposive sampling. Data collection occurred through in-depth interviews conducted from February to March 2024. This study followed COREQ guideline to report all process Result. We identified six main themes were: 1) Reasons to volunteer; 2) Roles in disaster response; 3) Challenges; 4) Volunteering Experiences; 5) Institutional support; and 6) Valuable lesson. Conclusion: The role of nurses in disaster response expands beyond healthcare functions to cover various non-medical duty to the continuity of disaster management processes. Nurses able to contribute to non-medical schemes such as public kitchens, logistics support, and assisting search and rescue teams in victim search and evacuation processes.