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Health Care Student Knowledge and Willingness to Work in Infectious Disease Outbreaks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2017

Rima Patel ,
Kapil Wattamwar ,
Jaya Kanduri ,
Meghan Nahass ,
Jennifer Yoon ,
Justin Oh ,
Parth Shukla  and
Clifton R. Lacy
Rima Patel
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Kapil Wattamwar
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Jaya Kanduri
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Meghan Nahass
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Jennifer Yoon
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Justin Oh
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Parth Shukla
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Clifton R. Lacy*
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and Rutgers School of Engineering, Piscataway, New Jersey, and Rutgers School of Communication and Information, and Rutgers Institute for Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security, New Brunswick, New Jersey
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Clifton R. Lacy, MD, Distinguished Professor of Professional Practice and Director, Institute for Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security, A federally-designated Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence; Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 106 Somerset Street – 7th Floor, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (e-mail: clifton.lacy@rutgers.edu).
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Abstract

Objective

Health care workers are critical first responders. Understanding which factors motivate their willingness to work (WTW) during infectious disease outbreaks may guide improvements in preparedness. The perspective of health care students, the future workforce, remains largely unexplored. This study compared factors influencing WTW among medical, nursing, and pharmacy students.

Methods

A printed survey was administered to 631 medical, nursing, and pharmacy students. The questionnaire elicited information regarding prior disaster training, disease-related knowledge, and WTW in the setting of infectious diseases with contact or respiratory transmission.

Results

Analyses of the 579 respondents (92% response rate) demonstrated that students were less fearful for their health and more willing to work during outbreaks with contact transmission than during those with respiratory transmission. Medical students were the most fearful for their health, but they demonstrated the greatest WTW, followed by nursing students, and then pharmacy students. Medical students were also the most knowledgeable about infectious diseases. Prior disaster training was associated with greater WTW.

Conclusions

Extent of disease-related knowledge and prior disaster training appear to influence WTW. Our findings, taken in the context of a remarkable underemphasis on disaster preparedness in health care curricula, call for a broader incorporation of disaster training to improve the WTW of health care students, and, ultimately, health care workers. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:694–700)

Keywords

disaster medicineinterdisciplinary medical educationdisaster planningdisease outbreaksemergency preparednessemergency response
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 11 , Issue 6 , December 2017 , pp. 694 - 700
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2017 

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Footnotes

*

Denotes co-first authors.

References

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