One disaster case I recall is the tornado that hit in Tuscaloosa, Al April 2011. Although, it has
been almost a decade ago, it was a moment I can’t forget. At the age I was, I knew nursing was
something I wanted to do because after the tragedy all I wanted to do was help my community.
Some people designate this as a disaster, but for many others it was a nightmare. The disaster
made housing worse, destroying much of the citizen homes. Not only did it damage houses the
tornado hot one of the poorest areas in the community of those who were already suffering from
low income. There was a big income gap in recovery and the ethnic groups tremendously
affected were those of African American descent and Hispanics. Some of those affected were
traumatized seeking mental health treatment and likely not being able to afford it. There were
over 320 deaths in the Tuscaloosa County area. During this tragedy the hospitals amongst the
area must be always at a state of readiness. Forecasters and citizen knew days ahead of the
tornado coming but nobody can predict how murderous the situation is going to be. Of course,
when a disaster as such occurs everyone is looking for the best possible medical care. It is
expected that hospitals are overwhelmed with patients and maybe even underutilized. Many
people were bought into the hospital by ambulance, some on foot, or pickup trucks. How must
and MSN prepared nurse react in a disastrous situation? I believe it would be our duty to assure
adequate staffing is available and managing care of our patients. In preparing for the storm, I
believe is important to develop a system where each patient that is already there, determine if
they can be transitioned into another level of care of sent home prior to the storm. In my area of
study as a leader, I will observe the census of all the nursing units to determine eligibility of
taking more emergent patients. it is vital to keep the lines of communication open, support staff,
be available to staff each unit accordingly, be helpful to other healthcare providers, and debrief
after the storm passes. Debriefing helps discuss what worked and what did not worked in caring
for each patient that presented after the storm. Competencies of an MSN prepared nurse during a
tornado disaster is
