2026 Volume 46 Pages 614-627
Objective: This study aimed to describe the characteristics of disaster nursing education programs implemented in undergraduate nursing curricula in Japan, focusing on their educational content, teaching methods, and students’ learning outcomes.
Methods: Articles were searched in the Ichu-shi Web, CiNii, and PubMed databases, and data on characteristics of the programs and reported student learning outcomes were extracted and organized.
Results: Thirty-one articles met the inclusion criteria. Disaster nursing education programs were provided through diverse formats, such as lectures, on-campus simulations, overnight shelter-based exercises, hospital- and community-based disaster drills, and interactions with disaster-affected areas or survivors. Students acquired not only knowledge and technical skills but also attitudinal learning, including preparedness as nurses, awareness of the difficulty of ethical decision-making, and understanding of community vulnerabilities and resources. However, most programs focused on acute and subacute disaster phases, whereas the educational content addressing the chronic and recovery phases—particularly prevention of disaster-related deaths and support for long-term recovery—was limited. Additionally, students often reported difficulties in visualizing their own actions during disasters, and a lack of realism in shelter-based exercises was identified as a common challenge.
Conclusion: To enhance disaster nursing practice competencies, future undergraduate programs must develop and validate educational programs that incorporate a long-term perspective including disaster-related death prevention and regional context, complemented by education that uses virtual reality and augmented reality technologies to visualize disaster scenarios.
