Background: Nurses' role perception and nurses' knowledge are considered the backbone of nurses'
competencies for dealing perfectly with disaster events as well as during emergency situations. Aim: To assess nurses'
role perception and knowledge about emergency preparedness at the time of disaster. Methods: A descriptive design
was conducted with all available emergency nurses including 200 staff nurses working at the emergency hospital of
Tanta University. Data was collected using nurses' role perception questionnaire and nurse knowledge about emergency
preparedness questionnaire. Results: The highest mean score & the first rank regarding the nurses' role perception was
for "the skills of nurses in dealing with disasters". The majority of nurses reported correct nurses knowledge respectively
regarding to "accessing critical resources" and" ethical issues and special population" of emergency preparedness
dimensions. While, they were reported incorrect knowledge related to (decontamination - detection and response to an
event) of emergency preparedness dimensions. Conclusion: More than half of studied sample has moderate level of
nurses' role perception. Nearly two third of emergency nurses had satisfactory level of knowledge about emergency
preparedness. Recommendations: Continuous staff education and training session for improving of nurses' role
perception and nurses' knowledge. Guided booklets, posters about emergency preparedness and disaster management are
also recommended. Prehospital system as one of very effective method for improving emergency preparedness.