Nursing Students’ Healthy Living Skills and Disaster Preparedness: A Relationship Study After the Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes (Mw 7.7 and Mw 7.6) in Türkiye

Background: Deteriorated living conditions after earthquakes hinder individuals from adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors. During this process, nursing students’ guidance to individuals and their role as role models for healthy lifestyle behaviors play an important role.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between disaster preparedness and healthy lifestyle behaviors in nursing students who survived the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes (Mw 7.7 and Mw 7.6) in Türkiye on February 6, 2023.

Methods: An online cross-sectional study was conducted with 229 undergraduate nursing students who were earthquake survivors in Türkiye in June 2023. Data were collected using an individual information form, the Disaster Preparedness Scale, and the Healthy Living Skills Scale. Independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pear-son correlation, and linear regression analyses were used for data analysis.

Results: Most nursing students had not experienced a disaster before and had not received disaster training prior to the earthquake. Higher income levels, maternal education, and prior disaster training were associated with better disaster preparedness. Disaster preparedness significantly influenced all dimensions of healthy lifestyle behaviors, including importance given to health, healthy nutrition, access to health-related resources, and health priority.

Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicate that higher levels of disaster preparedness were associated with nursing students’ ability to maintain healthy lifestyles after the earthquake and to adapt during the recovery process. Accordingly, integrating comprehensive disaster preparedness training into nursing curricula and strengthening national nursing education policies in this area are recommended.

Keywords: Disaster, earthquakes, healthy lifestyles, nursing students, preparedness