Database of Health Workforce Innovations
645
Mental health nurses and disaster response in Sierra Leone
Providing emergency mental-health care to disaster victims with only 20 mental health nurses
Who- 20 mental health nurses, trained in Psychological First Aid (PFA)
What- Their experience allowed them to deploy immediately to deliver PFA to affected individuals, whereas other responders first required refresher training. Within 1 week after the mudslide, the nurses delivered over 1000 interventions to affected individuals. They also led in-depth PFA sessions with mortuary staff, ambulance workers, and burial teams because these workers were deemed potentially susceptible to development of psychological sequelae.
What- Their experience allowed them to deploy immediately to deliver PFA to affected individuals, whereas other responders first required refresher training. Within 1 week after the mudslide, the nurses delivered over 1000 interventions to affected individuals. They also led in-depth PFA sessions with mortuary staff, ambulance workers, and burial teams because these workers were deemed potentially susceptible to development of psychological sequelae.
- New roles
- Mental Health Workers
- Nurse Specialists*
Post mudslide/ flooding disaster response in Sierra Leone
- Critical Care
- Emergency Medical Services
- Remote
The previous PFA training the mental health nurses had which allowed them to quickly mobilize and treat a wide range of impacted people with complex needs
Research Intervention - outcome data available
Harris, D., Wurie, A., Baingana, F., Sevalie, S., & Beynon, F. (2018). Mental health nurses and disaster response in Sierra Leone. The Lancet Global Health, 6(2), e146–e147.
Dawn Harris
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USAID
Africa
Sierra Leone