DID THE EARTHQUAKE OF THE CENTURY AFFECT OUR PREPAREDNESS FOR DISASTERS: DETERMINING THE EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS OF STUDENTS IN TURKEY.

Disasters will always exist in human life. Therefore, societies must learn to live with disasters. This research was carried out to determine the disaster preparedness levels of nursing students after the earthquake of the century in Turkey. The descriptive study was conducted with 1067 students studying at nursing faculties in Turkey between April and May 2023. Data was collected via Google Forms using the "Disaster Preparedness Scale". The data obtained from the research were analyzed using descriptive tests in the SPSS 21 package program. Of the students participating in the research, 66.3% are women and 25% are 4th-grade students. The general total "Disaster Preparedness Scale" mean score of the students was 27.6. The knowledge of the students in the sub-dimensions of disaster physical protection, planning, and warning systems is insufficient. Our research results show that even after the earthquake of the century in our country, the expected awareness of the students about the importance of being prepared for disasters has not developed. New research and innovative educational interventions are needed to improve students' disaster preparedness.