A Look at Disaster Nursing: Is It Right for You?

Natural disasters strike terror into nearby residents, sometimes forcing them to flee while suffering the effects of the event. From wildfires to hurricanes, natural disasters uproot lives and cause lasting health effects. This is where disaster nursing professionals can help.

If you feel inspired to work in disaster relief, consider switching careers to nursing. If you already have a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 65 non-nursing college credits, you may be eligible to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in as few as 15 months. Concordia University Irvine’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program can fast-track your journey toward becoming a nurse in California.

Healthcare professionals face unique challenges when it comes to the health implications of natural disasters. While the most common events affecting California include wildfires and earthquakes, disaster nursing professionals must be prepared to care for patients in all scenarios, including hurricanes and tornadoes.

What Is a Disaster Nurse?

A disaster nurse, also known as a disaster relief or disaster response nurse, is a registered nurse (RN) specializing in providing emergency relief to victims of natural or man-made disasters. Disaster nursing professionals respond to large-scale emergencies like wildfires, earthquakes, and more. 

Disaster RNs coordinate with other emergency service providers, such as emergency management officials and emergency medical services (EMS) teams, to help those who need it most. Specializing in delivering care in unpredictable environments, disaster nurses must overcome unique disaster-related challenges, ranging from supply shortages to dangerous working conditions.

 

What Do Disaster Nurses Do?

Disaster nursing professionals respond to various disasters, treating all sorts of injuries; however, some disasters are more linked to certain types of injuries than others. Wildfires, for instance, cause smoke inhalation, heat-related illnesses, and burn injuries. In the chaos of fleeing a wildfire, people may also suffer traumatic injuries from falls or motor vehicle accidents.

A disaster nurse’s first job is to triage patients and provide initial stabilizing care in coordination with other healthcare professionals. Nurses will also:

• Connect individuals to additional resources, such as mental healthcare.
• Coordinate activities with relief agencies and volunteers.
• Evacuate or transfer patients to healthcare facilities farther away from the danger zone.
• Deliver psychological first aid.
• Initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
• Provide wound care.
• Use triage tags to document patients’ identities, medical issues, and care instructions.

Some disaster nursing professionals are volunteers who respond to crises as needed while working a paid nursing job in another specialty. Others may be full-time disaster RNs who consult with communities and organizations on disaster planning and emergency preparedness initiatives.

Understanding the Unique Challenges of Responding to Natural Disasters

Before pursuing this nursing career, it’s important to understand the nursing implications for natural disasters. Disaster nursing professionals must be trained in the basics of disaster relief and understand how to care for patients under emotional distress. 

Whether you wish to become a disaster nurse professional or not, all RNs must be prepared to act when a natural disaster occurs in their home. Below are some unique challenges brought on by various natural disasters.

Nursing Implications for Wildfires

Nurses and nursing students who live in fire-prone areas, such as California, should know the basics of disaster relief for wildfires even if they don’t plan on pursuing a disaster relief role.

From January through mid-August 2025, over 40,000 wildfires burned nearly 4 million acres across the U.S. Over the same period, CAL FIRE and the U.S. Forest Service reported over 5,000 wildfires in California, exceeding the number reported during all of 2024. 

Some of the unique challenges for patients during a wildfire include:

• Respiratory risks: Wildfires and other disaster-related fires will cause plastic, building materials, and other man-made items that contain chemicals to infiltrate the air and be carried for long distances. Smoke inhalation can harm everyone, even those without pre-existing conditions, as it often contains harmful carcinogens.
• Displacement: In the event of a wildfire, people must evacuate quickly, sometimes with little notice and without critical medications. Displaced patients also need help connecting to critical resources, like emergency housing.
• Cardiac risks: Because of the pollutants and microplastic particles found in wildfire smoke, exposure is also harmful to the cardiovascular systems. For example, wildfire smoke can increase the risk of cardiac arrest.

Nursing Implications for Earthquakes

Earthquakes occur suddenly and are unpredictable, with effects ranging from no to minimal structural damage to devastation. There are approximately 55 earthquakes each day worldwide, while the U.S. Geological Survey expects 16 major earthquakes in any given year.

Earthquakes are caused when two sides of a fault, a fracture in the earth’s crust, shift, sending waves of energy through the ground. California is home to hundreds of faults, 200 of which are considered potentially hazardous.

Whether or not disaster nurses’ home base is prone to earthquakes, they must be prepared to respond when earthquakes occur. Some common earthquake health impacts include: 

• Fractures and crush injuries: Falling debris is the most common cause of fractures and crush injuries. Earthquakes can cause structural damage, and buildings not made to withstand these events can cause serious injuries.
• Wound infection: Infections are most common in individuals in remote locations or whose access to medical care is cut off due to infrastructure damage.
• Infectious diseases: Structural damage can have wide-ranging ripple effects. People can contract diseases through contaminated water supplies, respiratory infections from dust in the air, malaria and other insect-borne illnesses from a lapse in routine insect control, and more.

Nursing Implications for Hurricanes

Hurricanes are powerful tropical storms categorized by the intensity of their winds. They occur over tropical water and can cause significant damage when they make landfall. While these storms are tracked and warnings are issued to residents, people are not always able to evacuate.

While displacement potentially occurs in the wake of all natural disasters, hurricanes present unique challenges. Damage from flooding, hurricane winds, and standing water can prevent people from leaving the affected area to seek help and emergency services from reaching people in need.

Below is a sample of the common health concerns caused by hurricanes that disaster nurses must address:

• Infectious diseases: Flooding and heightened moisture inside homes can cause various infectious diseases, including mold, the spread of bacteria in standing water, and toxic substances released from flooded building materials, such as lead-based paint.
• Insect-borne illnesses: Standing water and damage to insect-control infrastructure can significantly increase insect-borne illnesses.
• Carbon monoxide poisoning: Power outages are very common after hurricanes, which is why home generators are common in hurricane-prone areas; however, improper use can expose individuals to carbon monoxide.

Nursing Implications for Tornadoes

Tornadoes are known as nature’s most violent storms. Their extreme winds can reach 300 miles per hour and travel one to 50 miles, devastating communities. They typically occur at the end of thunderstorms, form rapidly, and dissipate just as fast. Hail also commonly accompanies these storms, which can cause significant structural damage and personal injury on its own.

While tornadoes are more common in certain parts of the country, they have the potential to occur anywhere. Some of the common risks and injuries caused by tornadoes include:

• Respiratory risks: Structural damage can increase air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, lead, and nitrogen dioxide, which pose respiratory risks.
• Electrical-shock injuries: Tornadoes often leave downed powerlines and other electrical malfunctions in their wake, heightening the risk of electrical-shock injuries. Repair workers are also at risk of injuring themselves from falling as they repair power lines.
• Fractures and crush injuries: Fractures and crush injuries can be caused by structural damage, falling debris, and, in some cases, hail.

Challenges to Disaster Nursing Professionals

Natural disaster response poses unique challenges for both nurses and patients. While patients are at a higher risk of certain medical conditions, nurses may be at a higher risk of physical and emotional fatigue.

They must contend with limited resources in an austere or unconventional environment, short staffing, and long shifts. Power outages, infrastructure damage, and limited resources can make it difficult for nurses and other disaster response professionals to treat and care for patients.

Additionally, triage isn’t easy. Hospitals use colored tags in mass casualty events to indicate which patients require the most urgent care. A patient tagged as red needs immediate help, while a patient tagged as yellow should be treated after the red-tagged patients. A patient tagged as black is either already deceased or is not expected to survive even with treatment. Disaster nursing and healthcare professionals must make difficult decisions.

 

Key Nursing Skills Needed for Disaster Nursing Response

While each event presents unique challenges and impacts on health, there are multiple hard and soft skills that every disaster nursing professional needs, including:

• Adaptability
• Calmness under pressure
• Communication skills
• Emotional resilience
• Mass casualty incident training
• Psychological first aid
• Resourcefulness
• Trauma care and airway management
• Teamwork
• Triage ability

 

Special Training and Certifications for Disaster Nursing Professionals

To pursue a career or volunteer role as a disaster relief nurse, you must earn a nursing degree and pass the NCLEX-RN to obtain a nursing license. It can be helpful to obtain a multistate nursing license so that you can practice in various states affected by wildfires and other disasters.

Nurses who want to work in disaster relief should gain experience in a relevant nursing specialty, such as emergency care, critical care, or trauma care. They may then pursue relevant training and certifications for providing disaster relief, such as:

• International Board of Disaster Medicine (IBODM) certification
• Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
• Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN)
• Certified Healthcare Emergency Professional (CHEP)
• Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN)

Some organizations offer wilderness medicine courses and graduate-level nursing degrees focusing on disaster relief and emergency management.

Once licensed in California, nurses interested in disaster relief and promoting public health overall can apply for the Public Health Nursing certificate. Students enrolled in the ABSN program at Concordia University participate in the required community health course and complete the necessary clinical hours to meet the certification requirements.

How Concordia University Irvine Prepares Future Disaster Nurses

Concordia University Irvine has a longstanding history of preparing future nurses to manage unpredictable nursing situations with agility, compassion, and clinical competence. Whether you become a disaster nursing professional or pursue a different specialty, Concordia University Irvine offers a legacy you can trust to support you as you answer your calling to become a nurse. 

Offering a values-based curriculum, Concordia University approaches nursing as both a philosophical and scientific endeavor that empowers nursing professionals.

If you have a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 65 college credits, you might be eligible to apply to our ABSN program with two locations in California: a campus-based program in Irvine and a hybrid program in Rancho Cucamonga.

Get started sooner with three start dates each year and graduate in as few as 15 months.
Contact our specialized admissions counselors today to learn more and take the first step toward a nursing career.