Safety and Disaster Training for Healthcare Workers

There are dozens of safety and disaster training that every healthcare worker must undergo. The most essential are induction training, such as workplace orientation, equipment training, fire safety training, etc. They provide the staff’s competence improvement and significantly reduce time spent on getting to know the new environment, which can be crucial in emergencies. Cultural safety training is essential because it ensures that the environment is physically safe for the people and decreases the risk for the appearance of social and emotional stress. Guerra and Kurtz (2017) evaluated the cultural competency of healthcare students and how these cultural training are implemented in different universities that teach medicine. For example, McGill University holds a regular workshop on “teaching of core values and attitudes regarding cultural safety to practicing psychiatrists in order to change their clinical orientation toward culturally diverse patients” (p. 138). This type of implementing training is effective because it ensures face-to-face interaction with a student.

Healthcare facilities can also provide conducted curriculums or brochures that can be distributed among the staff. This method is effective because of its mobility and availability; however, it does not guarantee that every worker will be competent to demonstrate the skills learned during the training. As for disaster training, one of the most crucial ones is natural disaster response training. Healthcare facilities located in areas prone to natural disasters are at higher risk for emergencies to happen. Natural disasters threaten not only the lives of patients and clients but also everyone who is in the building. Naser and Saleem (2018) report that Yemen is one of the most vulnerable countries to flooding; therefore, the staff must know how to respond quickly during emergencies. The training must differ depending on the healthcare facility’s location; thus, if the area is known for the incidents of earthquakes, the workers must be prepared for this particular type of natural disaster.

References

Guerra, O., & Kurtz, D. (2017). Building collaboration: a scoping review of cultural competency and safety education and training for healthcare students and professionals in Canada. Teaching and learning in medicine, 29(2), 129-142. Web.

Naser, W. N., & Saleem, H. B. (2018). Emergency and disaster management training; knowledge and attitude of Yemeni health professionals-a cross-sectional study. BMC emergency medicine, 18(1), 1-12. Web.