[hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurses play a crucial role in public health. They perform life-saving tasks during public health crises and emergencies. Whether they’re vaccinating or treating patients during an epidemic or helping those who have experienced a natural disaster, nurses are often the first medical personnel patients encounter when brought to the emergency room or urgent care clinic.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Public health, emergency, and other nurses are trained in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. They have strong connections to their community and emergency response skills.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]The need for nurses continues to rise with the increases in public health crises– including coronavirus variants, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and influenza – and natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-heading variant=”h2″]Learning From History[/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurses have continuously fought on the front lines of global health outbreaks. In 1918, a deadly strain of influenza spread rapidly around the world, killing an estimated 50 million globally. Unlike other flu viruses, it struck young adults at higher rates than the rest of the population.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]American nurses visited patients in their homes, risking their health and lives to treat up to 40 people per day, while student nurses cared for the sick in hospitals. Some nurses contracted influenza while providing care and succumbed to the illness.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]The World Health Organization characterizes a pandemic as a disease with exponential growth that causes more cases each day and affects many countries or populations.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Pandemics and epidemics, like the 1918 flu, and more recently COVID-19, cause so many cases so quickly, they share many characteristics such as:[/hen-ui-text]

• Rapid spread and accelerated death toll
• Lack of tests and vaccines
• Reliance on isolation, hygiene, and disinfectants
• Crushing [hen-ui-link href=”https://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2018/05/1918-flu/” target=”_blank”]overburden on healthcare systems[/hen-ui-link]

[hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]The past century has seen the development of flu vaccines and medications, along with global influenza monitoring, which helped mitigate subsequent flu pandemics in 1957, 1968, and 2009. Research into vaccines for SARS and MERS helps guide the development of a COVID-19 vaccine.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]The COVID-19 pandemic acutely highlighted the need for more trained nurses. Nurses care for patients and educate the public about slowing the spread of disease. They also lead efforts to make hospitals safer for all healthcare personnel through measures such as assembling masks and face shields.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-heading variant=”h2″]Skills Nurses Bring to the Table[/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]In addition to combating disease and responding to natural disasters, nurses educate, prevent, and mitigate other public health issues, including obesity, tobacco and substance abuse, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and the effects of unsafe drinking water.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Registered nurses (RNs) assess symptoms, take medical histories, administer medications and vaccines, and assist with tests and procedures. Nurse practitioners (NPs) use their leadership, research, and policy analysis skills to provide crisis management and disaster response.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]NPs can also practice independently depending on their state of residence. Both RNs and NPs can offer education in infectious disease prevention, emergency preparedness, weight loss, and treatment for addictions.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurses in hospitals, community and public health clinics, schools, and organizations like the Red Cross perform many important duties during emergencies and public health crises, including activating operations plans, overseeing personal protective equipment use, staffing shelters, organizing blood drives, and assisting older people. Many community clinics may employ a surveillance nurse to monitor outbreaks through contact tracing.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurses also help mitigate health and healthcare disparities in disaster and emergency preparedness and response. They can assist underserved communities with disaster preparedness kits and procedures and advocate for equal access to tests, treatments, vaccines, and other life-saving resources.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-heading variant=”h3″]Nursing Shortages[/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]A recent [hen-ui-link href=”https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20220412.311784/” target=”_blank”]Health Affairs[/hen-ui-link] workforce analysis noted a 100,000+ decrease in RNs during 2021, illustrating the extent of the nationwide nursing shortage. In addition to impacting patient care, nursing shortages make public health emergencies like epidemics and pandemics more likely and more serious.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Even without the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding just one patient to a nurse’s workload causes a 7% increase in patient mortality, according to a [hen-ui-link href=”https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2813%2962631-8/fulltext” target=”_blank”]2014 Lancet article[/hen-ui-link]. Back in 2007, the [hen-ui-link href=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1962876/” target=”_blank”]World Health Organization[/hen-ui-link] also warned that under-resourced healthcare systems are one of the factors of accelerated global disease transmission.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Short-staffed medical facilities lack a sufficient number of nurses to educate patients about infectious disease prevention, administer vaccines and medications, and engage in community outreach and advocacy. This can result in more infected patients, who in turn transmit illnesses to others. In addition, people are more likely to listen to nurses about issues like vaccination than physicians or government officials, reports a [hen-ui-link href=”https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.908152/full” target=”_blank”]2022 Frontier’s article[/hen-ui-link].[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-heading variant=”h2″]Nursing Careers for Public Health Emergencies[/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Many nursing careers participate in preventing and ending public health emergencies. The following types of nurses are a few examples of those who help to prevent and stop public health emergencies:[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-grid columns-md=”2″ gap=”md”] [hen-ui-card variant=”background-white” border=”stroke” padding=”lg”] [hen-ui-card-content] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h3″][hen-ui-link href=”/registered-nursing/rn-salary//”]Registered Nurse[/hen-ui-link] [hen-ui-icon icon=”identification” color=”primary” aria-hidden=”true” /][/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]RNs in physicians’ offices educate patients about vaccines and other preventive measures against infectious diseases, offering telehealth services to prevent transmission. In hospitals, they conduct triage, implement infection control plans, and diagnose and treat injuries and illnesses.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-card-content][/hen-ui-card][hen-ui-card variant=”background-white” border=”stroke” padding=”lg”] [hen-ui-card-content] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h3″][hen-ui-link href=”/careers/respiratory-nurse/”]Respiratory Nurse[/hen-ui-link] [hen-ui-icon icon=”cloud” color=”primary” aria-hidden=”true” /][/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]These professionals specialize in treating patients with respiratory disease caused by RSV and other viruses, smoking, and natural disasters like wildfires. They are skilled in dispensing oxygen, managing ventilators, and administering medications.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-card-content][/hen-ui-card][hen-ui-card variant=”background-white” border=”stroke” padding=”lg”] [hen-ui-card-content] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h3″][hen-ui-link href=”/careers/public-health-nurse//”]Public Health Nurse[/hen-ui-link] [hen-ui-icon icon=”globe” color=”primary” aria-hidden=”true” /][/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Community-focused nurses have skills in case investigation, contact tracing, mass vaccination, and community education. They work in neighborhood clinics, in the community, and onsite with disaster and emergency response teams and organizations. In some cities and states, public health nurses also work as school nurses providing students with onsite care.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-card-content][/hen-ui-card][hen-ui-card variant=”background-white” border=”stroke” padding=”lg”] [hen-ui-card-content] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h3″][hen-ui-link href=”/careers/nurse-informatics/”]Informatics Nurse[/hen-ui-link] [hen-ui-icon icon=”trending-up” color=”primary” aria-hidden=”true” /][/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Informatics nurses use data analysis and dissemination to focus on issues like assessing and monitoring populations at risk for public health problems, identifying problems and priorities, formulating policies, and evaluating care.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-card-content][/hen-ui-card][hen-ui-card variant=”background-white” border=”stroke” padding=”lg”] [hen-ui-card-content] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h3″][hen-ui-link href=”/careers/pediatric-nurse/”]Pediatric Nurse[/hen-ui-link] [hen-ui-icon icon=”sparkles” color=”primary” aria-hidden=”true” /][/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Pediatric nurses care for children and advise their family members and caregivers on vaccines and health promotion. They also help connect families with resources like childcare when children need to stay home with an illness while parents go to work.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-card-content][/hen-ui-card][hen-ui-card variant=”background-white” border=”stroke” padding=”lg”] [hen-ui-card-content] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h3″][hen-ui-link href=”/careers/geriatric-nurse/”]Geriatric Nurse[/hen-ui-link] [hen-ui-icon icon=”user-add” color=”primary” aria-hidden=”true” /][/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Geriatric nurses see patients in physicians’ offices, community clinics, home healthcare, and long-term care facilities. They are trained in health promotion and care for older people, including infectious disease prevention and treatment.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-card-content][/hen-ui-card][hen-ui-card variant=”background-white” border=”stroke” padding=”lg”] [hen-ui-card-content] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h3″][hen-ui-link href=”/careers/er-nurse/”]ER Nurse[/hen-ui-link] [hen-ui-icon icon=”exclamation” color=”primary” aria-hidden=”true” /][/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]ER nurses staff hospital emergency departments and can be the first point to contact for patients with life-threatening illnesses and injuries. They perform triage, monitor vital signs, stabilize patients, and administer first-aid, medications, and treatments.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-card-content][/hen-ui-card][/hen-ui-grid][hen-ui-separator /][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″ tag=”em”]Page Last Reviewed on January 29, 2023[/hen-ui-text]