Evaluation of Risk Management and Passive Defense in Nursing and Midwifery School: An Action Research Study

Background and

The physical location of colleges is vulnerable to natural disasters and accidents. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a preparedness and response plan. The present study aimed to assess the readiness of accident risk management and passive defense in the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences.

This study applied an action research approach. The data collection procedure was performed by evaluating the readiness of the faculties of the University of Medical Sciences in managing the risk of accidents and passive defense. Data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Then the results were discussed in the risk management and passive defense committee of the faculty. After several consecutive brainstorming sessions, the solutions were proposed in order to fix the weaknesses.

In the initial evaluation, the level of preparation in the faculty was considered to be low (˂39%). The possibility of fire and the vulnerability of the building in terms of structural safety were determined to be the most risky factors in the college. After improving the risk management process, the faculty's level of preparedness was determined to be average (40-60%).

The current action research approach improved the safety of the college. No budget allocation for safety measures and the time-consuming communication process between different departments are the major obstacles to achieving optimal safety in educational spaces.