Crisis Preparedness among Clinical Staff: A Brief Survey in an Iranian Context

Abstract

Background and Objectives: During crisis, hospitals have great responsibility in saving life and protect health of the damaged individuals. Fulfilling this responsibility relies on preparedness of hospital staff, particularly the clinicians to face the relevant challenges. Given the lack of adequate information on the topic from Iran, the present study aimed to explore the technical crisis preparedness of healthcare staff in a sample Iranian hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A sample of 265 clinicians were randomly selected from among clinicians of a hospital in Tehran (Iran Capital), based on Cochran's formula. Data were collected using a researcher-made inventory containing 28 multiple-choice questions related to the technical preparedness and three questions related to the attitudes of respondent towards relevant training programs. Data were summarized using descriptive statistical methods and analyzed by Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Findings: The respondents expressed a moderate self-assessment of their technical crisis preparedness. Females, the age group of 51-60 years, work experience group of 21-30 years, married participants showed a significantly higher level of technical preparedness, compared with other respective groups (P < 0.05). The “ability to perform duties" was expressed as a major motivation to take part in crisis preparedness training programs, followed by “high probability of crisis happening". On the other hand “lack of time" and “poor work conditions" were expressed as the major factors negatively affecting clinicians' willingness to participate in training programs. Conclusions: Our result highlights the significance of assigning crisis management to the adequately experienced individuals. Training programs and maneuvers should be constantly held to provide clinicians the opportunity to enhance their crisis preparedness. Specific organizational arrangements are required to be made to encourage staff take the advantages of training opportunities and help them overcome the relevant barriers.