Disaster nursing is a nursing specialty that involves traveling to places affected by natural or man-made disasters to stabilize and care for victims of all ages. A disaster relief nurse may respond to earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, civil unrest or terroristic acts. Pursue this career by earning your nursing degree.
In 2024, there were 27 major climate-related natural disasters, causing a total of 568 deaths and countless injuries. It was second only to 2023, during which there were 28 disasters causing $1 billion or more in damages. Natural disasters are expected to become more frequent. This means that disaster nursing and other forms of emergency response will continue to grow in importance.
If you’re thinking of becoming an emergency relief nurse and you have a non-nursing background, making a career transition could be more feasible than you might think. Concordia University, St. Paul’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program allows you to graduate with a nursing degree in as few as 16 months upon meeting the eligibility and prerequisite requirements.
Before making the decision to pursue an emergency response nursing career, you’ll want to learn more about the role of nurses for disaster relief and the career pathway.
What Is Disaster Nursing?
Disaster nursing is a nursing specialty that focuses on emergency response to individuals affected by all sorts of disasters, including natural disasters and man-made calamities.
Some examples of disasters that nurses may respond to include:
- Acts of terrorism
- Avalanches
- Chemical/other hazardous material spills
- Civil unrest and wars
- Earthquakes
- Epidemics
- Floods
- Hurricanes, tornadoes and typhoons
- Landslides
- Tsunami
- Wildfires
Major disasters are often complex, leading to multiple health concerns. For instance, a hurricane can cause injuries and fatalities when strong winds cause projectiles to become airborne. They may cause flooding, increasing the risk of toxic exposure to pathogens, chemicals and waste in the floodwaters. The same hurricane can also knock out power to hospitals and homes, creating a risk of heat-related illnesses.
Disaster relief nurses must understand, anticipate and respond to these challenges.
The Role of Nurses for Disaster Relief
Nurses play an important role in disaster relief. Often arriving while a disaster is still happening or in its immediate aftermath, nurses may help to organize relief workers while providing immediate assistance to victims of all ages with a wide range of potential comorbidities.
A disaster can cause all sorts of health problems, from lacerations and traumatic amputations to concussions and stress-related heart attacks. Furthermore, some patients may have lost the medications or medical devices they rely on while en route to an evacuation point.
This nursing profession requires resilience and adaptability. These are traits we aim to instill in our ABSN students through our university culture and activities like skills labs in controlled learning spaces. During labs, you will be presented with various patient care scenarios and work through each with your cohort members under instructor supervision.
A disaster relief nurse may do any of the following:
- Administer nursing care and stabilize patients
- Administer medications and other treatments
- Go on recovery missions with emergency response teams
- Liaise with community representatives to assess needs
- Perform triage and patient assessments
Between disasters, nurses help communities prepare. Their work may include:
- Developing emergency preparedness and contingency plans for communities and specific organizations like hospitals
- Leading outreach initiatives like workshops to teach the public about emergency preparedness and first aid
Why Become a Disaster Relief Nurse?
Disasters don’t just cause fatalities and injuries. They displace people from their homes, destroy communities and take a severe emotional toll. As a disaster nursing professional, you will help people when they are in dire need and at their most vulnerable.
On the front lines, you’ll be working to save lives and provide a shoulder for victims to lean on. You can also work with communities to help them become more resilient and prepared for disasters, hopefully mitigating the potential impact.
How to Become a Disaster Response Nurse
If you think you have the emotional resilience and stamina to become a disaster response nurse, you can get started in this career field by applying to nursing school.
Earn Your BSN
Want to become a disaster nurse but not sure you’re up for another four years of school? There’s another option. With a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 54 college credits from an accredited institution, you could be eligible to apply to Concordia University, St. Paul’s ABSN program.
In addition to skills labs, you’ll complete online coursework and learn important nursing concepts. You’ll regularly visit our ABSN Learning Centers in either Oregon or Minnesota to complete nursing labs. These experiential learning labs will allow you to develop nursing skills and learn how to manage a wide range of patient care scenarios, from allergic reactions to heart attacks.
Discover the basics of fulfilling ABSN prerequisites for nursing school.
You’ll also complete a series of clinical learning experiences at nearby healthcare facilities. Under supervision, you’ll practice delivering patient care. Clinical learning experiences give you the opportunity to develop your skills and knowledge while immersed in a variety of healthcare settings.
Pass the NCLEX and Obtain a Nursing License
After earning your BSN, you’ll be eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN. This rigorous licensure exam tests your nursing knowledge and ability to develop appropriate nursing responses to various situations in healthcare. As a Concordia University, St. Paul ABSN student, you will begin preparation for the licensure exam in the first semester. You will have access to plenty of study materials and instructor support. Once you pass it, you’ll be able to obtain a state-issued nursing license to work as a Registered Nurse.
Gain Clinical Experience
Disaster nursing is not typically an entry-level role. In the midst of a disaster, nurses must be able to work with a certain degree of autonomy. They need to have experience caring for patients with a wide range of injuries and illnesses. Because of this, it’s ideal to gain at least a few years of clinical experience working in an emergency room or trauma center.
Pursue Disaster-Related RN Roles
After gaining clinical experience, you may feel ready to pursue a position as a relief nurse. Some disaster response RNs work full-time for various aid organizations. Others work in hospitals or clinics and volunteer some of their time to respond to disasters as they occur. You may wish to take the latter path to gain some experience in disaster response before deciding if becoming a full-time disaster responder is really the right fit for you.
How Much Do Disaster Response Nurses Make?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) doesn’t track employment data specifically for disaster relief RNs. However, the BLS reports that the median annual salary for all types of RNs was $86,070 as of May 2023.
Prepare for Your Future in Disaster Response
Whether your nursing career takes you around the world or to disaster response sites in the U.S., you can prepare for the future at Concordia University, St. Paul. Our ABSN program helps students learn how to provide evidence-based, holistic, patient-centered care that optimizes health outcomes and protects patient safety across the lifespan.
Learn how to apply for nursing school and take the first step toward your new career.
Here, you can earn your nursing degree in as few as 16 months and be on your way toward an exciting career in your nursing specialty. Contact our admissions advisors today to discover if our ABSN program is the right fit for you.