The primary purpose of this study was to explore terrorism preparedness and perceptions of confidence in connectivity of emergency nurses living in the six largest cities in the United States (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, and Philadelphia). Emergency nurses' perceived connectivity as individuals, and of their coworkers, organizations, and health care systems for terrorism preparedness was explored. The theoretical basis of the study was a blending of Kanter's Change Masters Theory and Kolb's Theory of Connectivity.

Data collection for this prospective descriptive study was based on a modified Dillman's Tailored Design Method. A 7-item Likert scale was used to measure nurses' perceptions of their preparedness for terrorism. The Connectivity Measurement Tool measured nurses' perceptions of connectivity as individuals and of their coworkers, their organizations, and their health care systems.

The sample was comprised of 222 randomly selected registered nurses who were members of the Emergency Nurses Association. The sample was sufficient for statistical significance of .05 with a power of .80 and a moderate effect size. Subjects ranged in age from 22 to 71 (M = 47.18) with an average of 15.14 years of emergency room experience. The majority of subjects (58%) received terrorism preparedness training within the past year.

Study results indicated that emergency nurses perceived their own individual connectivity, and their organizations' and systems' connectivity as higher than connectivity of their coworkers. On the terrorism preparedness questionnaire, nurses reported most frequently that they felt their employers valued them as essential employees should an act of terrorism occur; however, they indicated they felt they would be working with a severe staff shortage. Responses to an open-ended question within the survey revealed that many nurses would go to work following a terrorist attack only if they had reassurance for their own safety and security, in addition to the safety of their families' and significant others. Other motivating factors for nurses to go to work, noted in order of frequency, were: their sense of duty/obligation, knowing they had organizational support, altruism, and monetary compensation. A few nurses stated that, in the event of a terrorism event, they would not go in to work.