THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DISASTER PLANNING MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROGRAM ON NURSE MANAGERS’ PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY IN MAKKAH CITY, QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Background: Nurse managers act as the essential link between hospital administration and healthcare providers during disasters, making their preparedness critical to effective crisis response. A structured disaster management training program strengthens this preparedness and supports a more efficient recovery process once a disaster has occurred. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of a disaster planning and management training program on nurse managers' preparedness, response, and recovery in Makkah City. Method: A quasi-experimental research design was used, which comprised an intervention group, a control group, and follow-up. The research collected data in three governmental hospitals of Makkah City among 60 nurse managers through the application of two instruments of data collection, namely: the Knowledge Disaster Management Questionnaire and the Disaster Preparation Evaluation Tool. Results: There were statistically significant improvements in the levels of knowledge and disaster preparedness evaluation between the intervention group and the control group at post-test and follow-up after 3 months, while there was no statistical significance between the two groups at pre-intervention. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between total knowledge and total disaster preparedness evaluation among nurse managers in the intervention group, whereas there was no significant correlation in the intervention group pre-phase and in the control group at all three phases. Conclusion: The training program was effective for improving nurse managers' knowledge of disaster planning and management and disaster preparedness evaluation. Recommendations: Conducting structured and recurring disaster planning management training programs as an integral component of the professional development of nurse managers and considering disaster management training as a must-have element in the hospital policies and strategic workforce development plan for all nurse managers irrespective of their department.