Compared with first-tier cities in China that are of abundant funds and resources like legions of high-level hospitals, the degree of nurses’ disaster nursing preparedness in non-first-tier cities (inland) is relatively lower. For example, nurses’ knowledge reserve of specific disasters is not comprehensive enough. And nurses are diffident when it comes to the skills of handling disaster rescue. Furthermore, their understanding of the roles to take in disaster coordination management is ambiguous. Conquering these challenges could be conducive to the improvement of local medical staffs’ confidence and capabilities in disaster relief. Consequently, the objective of this research is to probe for approaches of improving the strategies of disaster nursing in Chinese small cities.

In order to ascertain the factors that influence disaster preparedness, a cross-sectional study with SPSS 25.0 data analysis method is adopted. The sample of the study is nursing personnel from 4 comprehensive hospitals at or above the second level in Yongcheng, Henan Province, China, as nurses are first-line responders in disasters and pandemics and the largest group in disaster rescue.

From 813 distributed questionnaires, 784 completed questionnaires were returned, for a response rate of 96.43%. The total average score of the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool is 146.76 ± 34.98, and the average score of all the entries is 3.26 ± 0.45, indicating moderate performance. The results indicate that age affects post disaster management (P < 0.05), meaning that as age increases, the scores also tend to be higher. Work experience, professional titles, disaster relief experience, and disaster training significantly differ in terms of knowledge, skills, post disaster management, and total scores (P < 0.01). The result of multivariate analysis indicates that titles, disaster relief experiences, and disaster training are the main factors affecting the disaster preparedness of nurses in Chinese non-first-tier (inland) cities(P < 0.05).

For the sake of upgrading the efficiency of disaster nursing preparedness in Chinese non-first-tier (inland) cities with limited funds and resources, it is very important to formulate training and education methods that are suitable for the local area, conduct characteristic simulation exercises, and expand experience exchange between hospitals. It’s certain that the local government will also play an important role in coordinating and organizing the division of labor, resource allocation, and management of hospitals at all levels in different phases of disasters, which can help nursing staff have a clearer understanding of their roles when preparing for disasters.