This webinar presents 4 qualitative research studies describing the wartime deployment experiences & the reintegration of military nurses after returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. The studies describe the personal and professional challenges the nurses faced, the difficulties they endured, the dangers they overcame, and the consequences they grappled with from deployment to war and through return from the war zones. In mobile surgical field hospitals, fast-forward mobile care units, detainee care facilities, base and city hospitals, aeromedical evacuation aircraft, and aeromedical staging units, these nurses cared for their patients with compassion, acumen, and inventiveness. When they returned home, they dealt with their experiences as best they could. The first 3 of 4 studies describe the lived experiences of living and working in a war zone. Some of the themes exposed the challenges of parental separation, primitive living conditions, children caught in the chaos of war, environmental stressors, female health and hygiene deficiencies, and the stress of caring for severely injured coalition soldiers and detainees.
The fourth study describes Homecoming and Reintegration for active duty, National Guard, and Reserve forces nurses deployed in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. For some, homecoming was a very positive experience, whereas for others it was a disappointing venture. Many were plagued with painful memories of trauma and significant stress in renegotiating family roles and responsibilities. Some felt strong support from their families and work colleagues, while others described a lack of support from significant others and colleagues. Many described a need for a 'clinical change of scenery' from ICU and trauma care. Many revealed the stresses and moral dilemmas they experienced as they transitioned back to stateside life. The nurses shared their difficulties with family separation, clinical reassignments, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the perceived stigma of seeking mental health counseling. Especially, active duty nurses, feared seeking mental health support would adversely affect their military records and future career progression and assignments. Many nurses shared that homecoming and reintegration was much more difficult than anticipated.
The findings of these four studies are expanded on in two books by the webinar presenters: ‘Nurses in War: Voices from Iraq and Afghanistan,’ and ‘Nurses after War: The Reintegration Experience of Nurses Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.’

Speakers:

Elizabeth Scannell-Desch, PhD, RN, FAAN
Colonel, United States Air Force, Nurse Corps (retired)
Associate Dean & Professor, Rutgers University, School of Nursing, Camden, NJ (retired)

Mary Ellen Doherty, PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM
Professor Emerita, Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT