Aim: To identify the practices of public health nurses in developing individual disaster preparedness plans for ventilator users.
Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight public health nurses in one municipality. The interview data were analyzed qualitatively, coded, and categorized.
Results: The following six categories were identified: “Putting a great deal of thought into identifying ventilator users in the district,” “Encouraging disaster preparedness as a ‘personal matter’ in normal times,” “Preparing a response plan for saving ventilator users' life,” “Preparing for the actual operation of a support network to support the parties/caregivers in the disaster scenario,” “Opening the door to community and government support while following the wishes of ventilator users and their teams,” and “Connecting the experience of individual support to the establishment of a regional disaster support system.”
Conclusion: This study revealed that public health nurses conduct a wide range of practices, from comprehensive identification of ventilator users and support for individual cases in normal times to group approaches such as the evaluation and improvement of the community system. Establishing a system to enable thorough understanding of ventilator users and share knowledge on individual support techniques are issues that need to be considered.
