Interdisciplinary and Interinstitutional Simulation and Cooperation: Development of Nursing Students Competencies in Disaster

Objective to identify the importance attributed to simulated practice use in nursing undergraduate students’ pedagogic actions in the field of disasters, in an interdisciplinary and interinstitutional scope in Portugal. Methods a study framed in the qualitative paradigm, supported by inductive and exploratory reasoning. As a data collection technique, semi-structured interviews were applied to coordinators/directors of nursing courses at public and private schools in Portugal. Results simulation methodology in the field of disasters is a teaching/learning strategy for nursing students to develop skills in this area. This type of teaching/learning methodology will have a greater advantage if carried out in partnership with organizations involved in protection and rescue operations and with an interdisciplinary scope, since it enhances prevention quality and response of all actors involved. Final considerations and implications for practice considering the specific complexity and unpredictability of disaster situations, the establishment of strategic cooperation partnerships with organizations with responsibility in this field, which promotes the development of nursing students’ skills and reduces the erroneous deterministic view of organizations, regarding the ability of students to integrate these actions, is fundamental.