Analysis of the disaster literacy levels of university students: Bezmialem Vakıf University Nursing Department pilot study

This research is a pilot study conducted to evaluate the knowledge of nursing students studying at Bezmialem Vakıf University regarding the phases of disasters with the Disaster Literacy (DLS) scale. The descriptive study was conducted with nursing students (235 individuals) between July and June 2023. It was aimed to reach the entire population and 208 individuals were reached by face-to-face implementation of the AFOY scale.The data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 package program. T and ANOVA tests were used in data analysis since the variables came from normal distribution. In the event of a difference in the ANOVA test, differences were calculated with the Tukey test, taking into account the assumption of homogeneity of variances. The correlation test was used to analyze the relationship between continuous variables. When the demographic data of 208 students who participated in the study were examined, 186 participants were female (89.42%) and 22 participants were male (10.58%), and the average age of the participants was 20.99±1.36 years. Out of 208 participants of the study, 76 students were in the 1st grade (36.23%), 32 students were studying in the 2nd grade (15.38%), 60 students were in the 3rd grade (28.84%) and 40 students were in the 4th grade (19.25%).Based on the results of the research, it was found that students' Disaster Literacy had an average below the moderate level. It is observed that harm reduction index scores have an average of 36,78±6,44 between 19,85-50 values, preparation index scores have an average of 35,83±6,53 between 15,63-50 values, intervention index scores have an average of 37,61±6,75 between 22,12±50 values, improvement index scores have an average of 35,22±7,61 between 14,17±50 values and disaster literacy index scores have an average of 36,32±6,14 between 18,65-50 values. The disaster literacy levels varied between the grades (p<0.05). The disaster literacy levels of 1st and 2nd graders were lower than those of 4th and 3rd graders.As the levels of readiness, intervention, mitigation and improvement increase, disaster literacy increases in parallel. The findings obtained from the research are considered to contribute in terms of increasing the disaster awareness of the students, and their orientation towards volunteering activities would support valuable activities related to disasters.