Characteristics of an emerging infectious disease situation that influence emergency nurses’ risk appraisal: A qualitative descriptive study

Abstract

Aims Emerging infectious diseases are considered as a pressing challenge to global public health. Throughout public health response to emerging infectious diseases, emergency nurses serve a vital role in minimizing the risk of disease transmission among patients, staff, visitors, and communities. However, their practices and performances are oftentimes reported to be inconsistent during different epidemic events, hindering their contributions to public health preparedness and response. The present study aimed at exploring the characteristics of an emerging infectious disease situation that are influential to emergency nurses’ risk perceptions.

Methods The present study used a qualitative descriptive approach. A purposive sampling method was employed to recruit emergency nurses who worked in public hospitals in Hong Kong. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to emergency nurses to explore their experiences and perceptions of the perceived risk from emerging infectious diseases. The data were interpreted using a thematic analysis strategy.

Results Five overarching theme regarding characteristics of an emerging infectious disease situation that influence emergency nurses’ risk appraisal emerged from the data: (1) the novelty of an emerging infectious disease, (2) the severity of an emerging infectious disease, (3) the proximity to an emerging infectious disease, (4) the complexity of an emerging infectious disease situation, and (5) the response levels towards an emerging infectious disease situation. The findings suggest that there is an absence of a consensual categorization system for emerging infectious disease outbreaks, which has resulted in uncertainty and discrepancies in assessing the risk and seriousness of non-influenza outbreaks . Conclusions The findings have delineated the several factors that might contribute to emergency nurses’ attitudes and practices in the course of an emerging infectious disease event. It is anticipated that the information may help to predict the attitudes and behaviors of emergency nurses in future impending epidemic events, enhancing emergency nurses’ preparedness towards in such situations.