The Volunteer Potential of Inactive Nurses for Disaster Preparedness
- 1 September 2005
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Public Health Nursing
- Vol. 22 (5), 414-421
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0737-1209.2005.220506.x
Abstract
Inactive nurses' interest in volunteering for emergency preparedness was examined. A mail survey was sent to the entire Vermont Board of Nursing list of in-state inactive and lapsed registered nurses (n = 3,682). A high rate of undeliverable surveys (60%) was found and 611 surveys were returned for a 20% response rate. Twenty-seven percent of the respondents were interested in volunteering. Those interested in participating in volunteer work as part of a national homeland security effort were significantly more likely to (a) be younger in age (p < 0.0001); (b) identify themselves as "being a nurse" (p = 0.001); (c) be employed versus retired (p = 0.002); and (d) be currently volunteers (p = 0.001). Because 33% of the nation's nurses are over age 50, inactive nurses offer a potentially large pool of volunteers for emergency preparedness training and response in the years to come.Keywords
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