Nursing Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices Regarding Disaster Preparedness at Menelik Ii Medical and Health Science College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2026. An Institution-Based Cross-Sectional Study Design
Ashenafi Zewdie Kumbi*, Adugna Cherkos Serato, Girma Abdisa Gobana, Shiferaw Bekele Jirata, Yohannes Midasso Beriso, Dawit Tesfaye Daka and Dereje Temesgen Chewaka
ABSTRACT
Background: Disasters are more frequent and severe worldwide, highlighting the critical need for medical personnel equipped to respond appropriately. Nursing knowledge and skills are vital for disaster preparedness. Healthcare workers must be specifically trained to deal with disasters and disaster preparedness as future healthcare providers. There is a strong need for disaster education in nursing programs in Ethiopia due to rapid urbanization and recurrent emergencies.
Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of nursing students regarding disaster preparedness at Menelik II Medical and Health Science College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2026.
Methods and Materials: A study was done at Menelik II Medical and Health Science College in Addis Ababa from May 1-31/2026. It was done with 657 nursing students. A pre-tested and structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data, which were then coded and entered into EpiData version 4.6; cleaned and analyzed using Stata version 17.0. All variables in the binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were analyzed. The degree of association was determined using the adjusted odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The significance level was set at a P-value of 0.05. The Hosmer–Lemeshow test was used to assess the model’s fit.
Results: 722 nursing students were invited; the response rate was 90.9%. The findings of this study showed that 62.7% (95% CI [59, 66.4]) of the nursing students had satisfactory knowledge, 54.5% (95% CI [50.7%, 58.3%]) had negative attitudes, and 85% (95% CI [81.9, 88.1]) had unfavorable practices regarding Disaster Preparedness.
Conclusion: The nursing students had satisfactory knowledge, negative attitudes, and unfavorable practices. Academic achievement (GPA) was significantly associated with nursing students’ knowledge of disaster preparedness.
