In the event of a disaster, a nurse would have a couple primary roles and responsibilities. I believe that the nurse will have a duty to do whatever they can to help their patients and to protect themselves during the process. A disaster can be a chaotic time, especially if people need medical attention during this time. It would make people nervous and scared about what is to come. That is why nurses will have the primary role and responsibilities of caring the best they can for their patients. I think this will mostly come as comforting the patients during their times of distress. Calming the patients and making them feel safe will make their stay better and will make their care come easier if they are not stressing about what is to come. Also, I think the nurse needs to take care of themselves. Where disasters are usually chaotic times, people could do things they normally may not do. During this time the nurse needs to make sure that they keep their own safety in mind so that they are not hurt or injured during this time because if they are, then that is one less person that is going to be able to help those that are in need.

In the ANA Code of Ethics, there are two provisions that state similar codes to what I have mentioned above. Provision 2 states that a nurses primary responsibility is to the patient, but Provision 5 states that the nurse should have the same responsibility to themselves. I think that during a disaster, the nurse will have to focus on these two provisions, but make decisions based on the situation they are in. For example, if the nurse is safe and able to take care of patients, then they should focus on the patients to give them the best care they are able to. However, if they are in a situation that is going to be unsafe for themselves, then they need to keep themselves safe so that they are able to take care of more patients in the future. If they are injured they won’t be able to help others. That is why, in disasters, I think that a nurse taking care of themselves is making the patients their primary responsibility because of their ability to keep helping others due to keeping themselves safe.