U.S. Army nurses' reintegration and homecoming experiences after Iraq and Afghanistan.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to understand U.S. Army nurses' reintegration and homecoming experiences after deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. METHOD: Employing existential phenomenology and purposive sampling, 22 U.S. Army active duty nurses were recruited from two military posts and participated in single digitally recorded interviews. RESULTS: Five themes emerged: (1) aspects of command support were articulated as "No one cares"; (2) fulfilling requirements for attendance at pre/postdeployment briefings were described as merely "check the blocks"; (3) readjustments from focusing strictly on duty requirements versus multitasking, such as family responsibilities and daily living, led to the "Stress of being home"; (4) nurses stated "They don't understand" when referring to anyone without deployment experience (family, friends, other soldiers); and (5) when referencing deployment experiences, nurses emphasized that, "It just changes you." DISCUSSION: Nurses in this study felt that the current reintegration process was not meeting their needs for a smoother homecoming; new or improved interventions to assist redeploying nurses with the transition to a noncombat environment would be beneficial. Educational programs to help nursing supervisors provide optimal leadership support through all phases of deployment are needed.

Military Medics' Insight Into Providing Women's Health Care in Deployed Settings.

OBJECTIVES: To gain better understanding of the military medics' (Navy Independent Duty Corpsman, Air Force Independent Duty Medical Technician, and Army Health Care Specialist, experiences providing health care for women in the deployed or ship setting. METHODS: The researchers used an exploratory, descriptive design informed by ethnography. A total of 86 individuals participated in the focus group and individual interviews. RESULTS: Three themes were identified: Training Fidelity, Advocate Leader, and The Challenges of Providing Patient Care. DISCUSSION: Experience in austere settings has convinced a number of medics they need additional women's health care topics in every facet of their training. They further suggested such training should be provided in stepwise fashion, beginning with initial, technical training courses and continuing through medical skills sustainment platforms. They were especially interested in basic women's health concerns. Topics suggested included vaginal infections, urinary tract infections, and birth control management. CONCLUSIONS: Although the advancement of women in the military continues to make strides-it is clear the availability of quality women's health care that women feel comfortable accessing may be its defining limitation. Medics are an excellent conduit for reinforcing these healthy messages and providing first-line treatment to deployed military women.