All types of frequent natural disasters,which seriously threaten the safety of human life and property,have become a great challenge all over the world.The dangerous and changeable environment in emergency rescue demands higher requirements for competency of the nurses who respond to a disaster.Disaster nursing combines medical science,sociology,psychology,and other disciplines;thus,it has become a comprehensive interdisciplinary branch of nursing.Disaster nursing has just recently been introduced to our country and is still in the stage of exploration.Nurses comprise the largest rescue force on disaster relief teams;therefore,disaster nursing competency is influential on the disaster response and recovery of victims after a disaster.Thus,this paper defines the concepts and elements of disaster nursing,including disaster nursing skill requirements and architectural framework.It will provide an important contribution to improving the overall level and comprehensive quality of disaster nursing competency of nurses in China. All types of frequent natural disasters, which seriously threaten the safety of human life and property, have become a great challenge all over the world. Dangerous and changeable environment in emergency rescue demands higher requirements for competency of the nurses who respond to a disaster. Disaster nursing combines medical science, sociology, psychology, and other disciplines; thus, it has become a comprehensive interdisciplinary branch of nursing. Disaster nursing has just been introduced to our country and is still in the stage of exploration. force on disaster relief teams; therefore, disaster nursing competency is influential on the disaster response and recovery of victims after a disaster.Thus, this paper defines the concepts and elements of disaster nursing, including disaster nursing skill requirements and architectural framework. It will provide an important contribution to improving the overall level and comprehensive quality of disaster n ursing competency of nurses in China.