Critical Requirements for Nursing Practice in Rural Disasters Caused by Floods

ABSTRACT Objective: To identify critical requirements for nursing practice when responding to hydrological disasters in the rural area. Method: A descriptive, exploratory and qualitative study was developed. The Critical Incidents Technique was adopted. Twenty public health nurses who worked during the flood season in the years of 2014 and 2015 in a rural area in Southern Brazil were interviewed. Content analysis of the data was developed. Results: Critical requirements for nurses’ practice were derived from the situations (n=78), critical behaviors (n=98) and consequences to the population (n=43) and to the nurses (n=38) identified. Conclusion / Final considerations: Although the requirements could be related to the established international referential for nurses’ practice in disasters, some were described only in this study. They can contribute to the education and practice of nurses in primary health care, strengthening its capacity to face disaster situations by flood in the rural area.