Pandemic influenza: an evolutionary concept analysis.

AIM: The aim of this paper was to provide a concept analysis of 'pandemic influenza'.

BACKGROUND

Pandemic influenza can have a devastating impact as individuals have little to no immunity towards the newly encountered virus. It is a persistent societal threat due to the advancement of multiple technological processes. Nurses work in multiple roles in pandemics. As such, a thorough understanding of the concept and its implications from a nursing perspective is required.

DESIGN

Rodgers' Evolutionary Method was used to conduct the concept analysis of the term 'pandemic influenza'.

DATA SOURCES: Forty-nine papers were examined from the disciplines of public health, medicine, law, bioethics and healthcare policy. Papers were found from the PubMed, CINAHL and Google Scholar databases all dates up to December 2013. Limits were set to include peer-reviewed, English language articles.

METHODS

Identified papers were critically analyzed to explore the concept's antecedents, attributes and consequences. Surrogate and related terms, and an exemplar, were identified.

RESULTS

Attributes of pandemic include original viral structure, increased human susceptibility, younger vulnerable populations and unpredictable time frames. Antecedents include processes that enable the increased geographical transmission of a newly created influenza. Consequences include higher morbidity and mortality rates and the need for an efficient pandemic response.

CONCLUSIONS

This analysis identified the attributes of pandemic influenza through a synthesis of the current pandemic literature. However, no articles were identified as specifically nursing in nature. Therefore, more research is required to examine the impact of a pandemic declaration on the nursing profession.