0 daftar isi.p65 Mutiara Medika Vol. 11 No. 1: 19-24, Januari 2011 19 Undergraduate Nurse Student’s Perceptions of Being Health Volunteer during Merapi Mountain Eruption 2010 Persepsi Menjadi Relawan Kesehatan Mahasiswa Ilmu Keperawatan Selama Letusan Gunung Merapi 2010 Erna Rochmawati Medical Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Email: erna_rho@yahoo.com Abstract This current study aimed to investigate undergraduate nurse students’ perceptions and experi- ences of being health volunteer during Mount Merapi eruption on 2010. A nonexperimental, descriptive design was used. A total sampling of 26 undergraduate nurse students who become health volunteers during Mount. Merapi eruption completed self administered questionnaire. The questionnaire which con- sisted open and closed ended questions was used to measure students’ self awareness and what they have learnt. Data were aggregated and analyzed using simple descriptive analysis. Result indicated that undergraduate nurse students had internal motivation of being health volunteers during disaster. This study found results of students’ self assessment of their knowledge and skills capability. Findings of this study contributes benefits, future impact of being health volunteers. Students’ perceptions and experi- ences during disaster underscores the importance factors in the promotion of disaster management competency in nursing education. Key words: health volunteers, nurse students, disaster Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui persepsi dan pengalaman mahasiswa keperawatan saat menjadi relawan kesehatan selama bencana letusan Gunung Merapi. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif. Sampel yang digunakan adalah total sampling yaitu sebanyak 26 mahasiswa keperawatan yang menjadi relawan kesehatan bencana letusan Gunung Merapi 2010. Kuesioner yang terdiri dari pertanyaan terbuka dan tertutup digunakan untuk mengukur persepsi dan pengalaman mahasiswa keperawatan dan apa yang telah mereka pelajari saat menjadi relawan. Data dikumpulkan dan dianalisis menggunakan analisis deskriptif sederhana. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa mahasiswa memiliki motivasi internal untuk menjadi relawan kesehatan selama bencana. Penelitian ini menunjukkan hasil dari evaluasi diri mahasiswa terhadap pengetahuaan dan ketrampilan mereka. Hasil penelitian penelitian ini menggambarkan manfaat menjadi relawan kesehatan di masa depan. Persepsi pengalaman mahasiswa keperawatan saat menjadi relawan kesehatan selama bencana menggarisbawahi pentingnya peningkatan kompetensi manajemen bencana dalam pendidikan keperawatan. Kata kunci: relawan kesehatan, mahasiswa keperawatan, bencana ARTIKEL PENELITIAN Erna Rochmawati, Undergraduate Nurse Student’s Perceptions ... 20 INTRODUCTION International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC, 2009) defines a disaster as “a sudden, calami- tous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a community or society and causes human, ma- terial, and economic or environmental losses that exceed the community’s or society’s ability to cope using its own resources”. Moreover, from the health care professionals’ point of view, disasters can be defined from effects on people’s health and on health services .1 Disaster can be categorised into three based on its origin, including: natural, human induced and mixed (natural and human).2 Indonesia is a vulnerable country since it has a great risk of disaster which may caused by natu- ral, human induced or mixed causes. In the past 5 years, many disasters have happened in Indone- sia including earthquake, tsunami, earthquake and tsunami, flood, landslides and bomb attacks. Yogyakarta, one of a province in Indonesia has experienced several natural disasters, like earth- quake which happened in 2006, and Mount Merapi eruption which happened in 2006 and 2010. The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) estimates that 778 disasters have occurred within the past 5 years, with more than 13000 were killed.3 Nurses, as a part of health care sectors will be in the front line of any emergency response. In or- der to prepare health professionals to respond during emergency condition appropriately, various universities have developed competencies for health professionals. In line with this, School of Nursing, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta have developed competencies for undergraduate nurse student. The competencies include an abili- ty to do initial assessment, ability to do Basic Life Support, and an understanding about disaster management and nursing care plan during emer- gency condition. 4 In addition, there is also an ex- tracurricular, named Nursing Care Club which fo- cus on the development of practical skills of under- graduate nurse students. Along with teaching and learning process, it is expected that undergradu- ate nurse students have a responsivenes and com- petency, particularly in emergency condition, such as during disaster. Being health volunteers is one of strategies to develop the responsiveness and the competency. Little research, however, has in- vestigated nurse students experiences of being health volunteer during disaster. This paper reports on a study that investigated of being health volunteers during Mount Merapi eruption from the perspective of undergraduate nurse students and explored the attributes required for being a good health volunteer. MATERIAL AND METHODS This study employed a descriptive design to explore undergraduate nurse student’s perceptions and experiences of being health volunteer during Mount Merapi eruption, of which there is limited evidence. According to LoBiondo – Wood and Haber (2006),5 a descriptive study is ideal when studying an area where limited research has been undertaken.5 Undergraduate nurse students who have been a volunteer during Mount Merapi erup- tion were approached in such a way that they had time to consider whether to participate and did not feel pressured into taking part in this study. A pack- age containing a questionnaire and consent form, was administered to participants. Participants then could determine whether to participate, or withdraw Mutiara Medika Vol. 11 No. 1: 19-24, Januari 2011 21 without prejudice. All data collected was de-identi- fied, coded and securely stored in line with the prin- ciples of ethical conduct. Participants investigated in this study were all of undergraduate nurse students of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta who have been vol- unteers during Mount Merapi eruption. A total sam- pling was applied in this descriptive study. All of the undergraduate nurse studens who have been volunteers were invited to participate in this study. These participants were chosen because they had experiences of being health volunteer during a natural disaster. A questionnaire was developed specifically to address the objectives of the study. Open and closed ended questions examined the concepts identified during the literature review. Questions which related to perceptions and benefits of being health volunteer were presented in a Likert-scale, with ratings from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Open-ended questions gave participants the opportunity to expand upon their views. In the questionnaire which administered to the partici- pants, open – ended questions explored partici- pants’ opinion about their experiences and benefits of being health volunteers. In the last section of the questionnaire, participants were asked to make priority about attributes required to be a good health volunteer. The completed self-enumerated ques- tionnaire was administered to all of 26 participants. Each completed questionnaire was assigned a unique number to allow accurate tracking with entered data. Responses were coded and entered into a spreadsheet program for efficient data han- dling management and handling. Descriptive and frequencies statistics were calculated to analyze the responses. RESULT Completed returned questionnaires were 26 (100 %). The questionnaire sought demographic infor- mation about the participants, specifically, age, gender, and years of study. Frequency statistic were used to analyse distribution. The result was pre- sented in Table 1. All of the participants, the majority were be- tween 20 -24 years old, 18 (69, 23%), female, 16 (61.54%), and in their fourth years, 13 (50%). Undergraduate nurse students’ perceptions and benefits of being health volunters is presented in Table 2. There were 18 questions in the questionnaire which asked about motivation (1), feeling experi- enced being health volunteers (4), Self evaluation of ability being health volunteers (4), Evaluation of knowledge and skills owned (4), Benefits of being health volunteer (3), and impacts for future (2). Table 1. Distribution of Undegraduate Age, Gender, and Years of Study Demographic Frequency Procentage Age < 20 8 30.77 20-24 18 69.23 Gender Male 10 38.46 Female 16 61.54 Years of study 1 4 15.4 2 4 15.4 3 5 19.2 4 13 50 Erna Rochmawati, Undergraduate Nurse Student’s Perceptions ... 22 communication skills both with clients, 23 (96.2%) and other volunteers, 23 (96.2%). Regarding to questions about evaluation of knowledge and skills, 7 (27%) felt uncertain, and the rest felt having suf- ficient knowldege. Most of all participant stated their agreement that being health volunteers give them benefits, in- cluding improved organizational skills (100%), im- proved clinical skills (92.3%), and improved know- ledge about disaster managament (100%). Con- sidering the benefits they got, all of the participant 26 (100%) stated their willingness to be health vo- lunteer in the future. In the last part of the questionnaire, the par- ticipants were asked to prioritise the attributes of being good health volunteers. There were three top Table 2. Undergraduate Nurse Students’ Perceptions of Being Health Volunteers Items Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree n % n % n % n % n % Motivation - Internal 6 23 20 77 0 0 0 0 0 0 Feeling s experience d for being health volunteers - Underpressure - Full of spirit - Benefit - Self confidence 0 22 21 12 0 84.6 80.8 46 0 6 5 24 0 16.4 19.2 54 3 0 0 0 11.5 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 30.8 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 53.8 0 0 0 Self evaluation of owned ability for being health volunteers - Feels capable - Communication with clients - Communication with other volunteers - Collaboration with other team 6 9 12 12 23 34.6 46.2 46.2 20 16 13 14 27 61.6 50 53.8 0 1 1 0 0 3.8 3.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Evaluation of owned knowledge and skills - Poor knowledge - Having sufficient knowledge - Having poor clinical skills - Knowledge owned can be applied 2 3 5 14 7.7 11.5 19.2 53.8 10 16 13 11 38.5 61.5 50 42.3 3 7 3 1 11.5 27 11.5 3.8 11 0 0 0 42.3 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 19.3 0 Benefits of being health volunteer - Organizational skills improved - Clinical skills improved - Knowledge about disaster management improved 13 10 12 50 38.5 46.2 12 14 14 46.2 53.8 53.8 0 2 0 0 7.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Impact s for future - Willingness to learn more - Willingness to be a health volunteer 25 21 96.2 80.8 0 5 0 19.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.8 0 0 0 0 0 All participants agreed that they had internal motivation for being health volunteer, strongly agree (23%), and agree (77%). Regarding to questions about feeling the participants experienced being health volunteer, 14 (53.8%) stated their strong dis- agreement if they felt underpressure, but 3 (11,5%) felt uncertain. All of the participants stated their agreement that they felt full of spirit, and self confi- dence for being health volunteers. Regarding to the benefit of being health volunteers, all of the participatns stated their agreement, 21 (80.8%) strongly agree, and 5 (19.2%) agree. All participants agreed that they had a good collaboration skills, 12 (46.2%) strongly agree and good capability, 20 (76%) agree. Most of the par- ticipants stated their agreement that they had good Mutiara Medika Vol. 11 No. 1: 19-24, Januari 2011 23 priorities of the attribute: empathy, honesty and good team work capability. DISCUSSION Being health volunteers gives good impression for undergraduate nurse student. This study con- tributes to what is known about nursing disaster managament, particularly being health volunteers during the disaster. The demographic details of the participants of this study showed that there were some similari- ties between the participants and nurses in the world. Globally, nursing is predominantly female profession. Sixteen of 26 participants (61,54%) were female. More females involved in nursing may be resulted from a belief that femalemare more caring to patients and a nurse should be a female. Half of the participants were in the fourth years of nursing education. The fourth years undergradu- ate nurse students have obtain courses about emergency nursing and disaster management. It seems that more knowledge they have obtained, undegraduate nurse student more eager to be health volunteer. Most of the participants stated their agreement that they have a good communication skills with clients. The undergraduate nurse students of UMY have been taught communication in their first year. Communication skills play a crucial roles during emergency condition.6 The participants stated about the benefits they got including improved clinical skills and knowledge about disaster management, and improved orga- nizational skills. Being health volunteers enable un- dergraduate nurse students to learn more not only about the knowledge and practical skills, but also about soft skills. There were top three attributes which required for being good health volunteers, including: hon- esty, empathy, and good team work skills. It seems that the participants have learned that empathy is needed during delivering support for victims of di- sasters. Emphaty will also shows professionalism of a profession, it is in line with the school of nurs- ing mission which is to produce a professional nurse. The participants also realize that having good team work skills is important, since a good disas- ter management requires interprofessional collabo- ration. This study was a simple survey using a self- completed questionnaire and a small-scale study involving only undergraduate nurse student study- ing at a university thus generalizations across the entire population of undergraduate nurse students cannot be made. No other studies similar to the present study were found. Therefore, it was diffi- cult to compare and contrast the results of the present study with those of previous studies and the replication of this study to other setting is needed. Nevertheless, the results provide some insight into the future of disaster management for undergraduate students, particularly about the ef- fectiveness and benefit, and provide the basis for further research. CONCLUSION In general, being health volunteers give se- veral benefits and all undergraduate nurse students state positive experiences of being health volun- teers. Additional research could further evaluate the Erna Rochmawati, Undergraduate Nurse Student’s Perceptions ... 24 3. National Disaster Management Agency. Ac- cessed at http://dibi.bnpb.go.id/DesInventar/ print_result.jsp accessed on 9 December 2009. 4 Program Studi Ilmu Keperawatan Fakultas Kedokteran dan Ilmu Kesehatan Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta. Buku Panduan Akademik. Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogya- karta. 2006. 5 LoBiondo-Wood G, Haber J. Non experimen- tal designs: Nursing research: methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice. 6th eds, Mosby-Elsevier, Missouri. 2006. 6 Sabri AA, Qayyum MA. Why Medical Students Should Be Trained in Disaster Management: Our Experience of the Kashmir Earthquake. Plos Medicine 2006;9(2):1452-1463. effectiveness of being health volunteer and its ap- plicability in different situtation. In addition, the un- dergraduate nurse students believed that personal attributes, including honesty, empathy and good team work skills are important for being a good health volunteer during a disaster. REFERENCE 1. Veenema TG. Expanding educational oppor- tunities in disaster response and emergency preparedness for nurses. Nursing Education Perspectives 2006:27(2):93-99. 2. World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM). Health disaster manage- ment: guidelines for evaluation and research in the Utstein style. Prehospital Disaster Medi- cine 2003;17:1-177.