The Impact of Islamic-Based Disaster Response Competencies Program on Nurses: A Computer-based Training Randomized Controlled Trial

Disasters have a significant impact on physical, psychological, psychosocial, and spiritual conditions. Indonesia, a predominately Muslim country, is a country of high vulnerability and risk for disasters. The nurses are frontliners and care providers need sufficient competencies in handling the survivors in health service centers. Local government regulations in the Aceh Province required Islamic-based health services.

The study aims to identify the effectiveness of the Islamic-based disaster response competencies on nurses at the Banda Aceh Hospitals.

A randomized controlled trial with a pre- and post-tests with a control group design was used in this study. The population was all nurses at three hospitals in four wards: emergency department, intensive care, medical, and surgical wards. The samples were selected using cluster random sampling and assigned into three groups: evidence = 50, Islamic = 49, and control = 48. Data were analyzed using parametric and non-parametric tests.

The results showed a significant increase in nurses’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes of disaster response in the evidence and Islamic groups with the mean and SD of the Islamic group in post-test 1 and 2 (knowledge = 15.9±2.9 and 15.8±2.9, skills = 19.0±1.4 and 18.9±1.4, attitude = 108.1±6.9 and 108.2±6.9) were higher than the evidence group (knowledge = 15.6±2.7 and 15.5±2.7, skills = 18.7±1.5 and 18.8±1.5, attitudes = 107.5±7.4 and 107.4±7.3) and the control group (knowledge=13.8±4.0 and 13.9±4.0, skills = 17.9±1.9 and 17.9±1.9, attitude = 104.5±8.8 and 104.6±8.8), respectively.

The results indicate the Islamic group is more effective in increasing the disaster response competencies of nurses. This finding suggests the importance of developing regulations including policies, guidelines, emergency and disaster training, and public health services to support the implementation of an appropriate Islamic-based disaster nursing responses for hospitals in the Aceh Province and other regions with the implementation of Islamic law. Request number ANZCTR 378930