Exploring Managers’ Experiences of Hospital Disaster Preparedness: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Preparedness is one of the important and effective pre-crisis management stages and involves all actions and programs that enable the organization to respond quickly and effectively in critical situations. To this end, this study aimed to explore the experiences of crisis managers and experts in hospital disaster preparedness. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis in 2019. The research population included hospital managers and crisis specialists in Ardabil Province. The participants were 14 managers and crisis specialists who were selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Griesheim and Landman’s qualitative content analysis approach. Results: The analysis of the data revealed four main categories including management and planning, infrastructural development, human resources, and intersectoral coordination. Conclusion: The findings of the present study highlighted the significance of preparedness for emergencies, management and planning, having codified instructions, and implementation and evaluation to increase the preparedness of hospitals to deal with emergencies.