A phenomenological study of public health nurses in the San Francisco Bay Area post-9/11

This qualitative, phenomenological study identified skill sets and strategies used by 20 public health nurses in the public health sector to maintain professional roles in the aftermath of the critical events in the fall of 2001. The study began with 13 broad questions and revealed 15 relevant themes and applicable invariant constituents. An analysis of the data revealed significant invariant themes, the most important of which were incorporating leadership skills for first responders, updating knowledge for first responders to reflect recent critical events from an all hazards approach, conducting disaster drills in collaboration with other responders, and clarifying the means for communicating in a disaster. The results of this study suggest that acknowledging the lived experiences of public health nurses involved in critical events may help to inform leaders, educators, and stakeholders in public health about the needs of current and future public health nurses. Some of these needs include restructuring nursing education to incorporate disaster management with a focus on the disaster life cycle and providing leadership development for current nurses.