Disaster Management Educational Intervention: A Key to Reduce Internship Nursing Students' COVID 19 Fear

Background: COVID-19 as a disaster is attacking the world as we are in a war that produced a larger number of deaths and patients. Health care providers including internship nursing students are considered our soldiers in that war, so they shouldn't be afraid when facing any disaster. Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of disaster management educational intervention on internship nursing students’ COVID - 19 Fear. Methods: Quasi-Experimental pre-test and post-test designs were conducted using one group. A convenience sample (N = 110) of internship nursing students who trained at Menoufia University hospitals and Shebin Elkom teaching hospital. Three instruments were applied, which were a Self-administered questionnaire to assess nursing intern students’ knowledge, Self-reported questionnaire to assess intern students’ practices regarding disaster management, and COVID-19 Fear scale to assess internship nursing students’ fear. Results: This study revealed that internship nursing students’ COVID-19 fear at the post- and follow up intervention was reduced. Also, there was a highly significant difference in the internship nursing students' COVID-19 fear level between pre- and post-intervention and between pre intervention and follow-up intervention at p≤ 0.001. Conclusions: The effectiveness of disaster management educational intervention had been achieved in reducing internship nursing students’ COVID-19 fear. So, intern students should be trained and equipped to deal with disaster management. Recommendation: The undergraduate and postgraduate nursing curriculum should include the discipline of disaster management and continuous, and recurrent disaster management training programs are conducted during undergraduate or graduate education to reduce COVID-19 fear.