Evaluating Air Force Expeditionary Nursing -- Are We Prepared

摘要

A number of nurses from Wilford Hall Medical Center (WHMC) are being deployed on a cyclical rotation to the Air Force (AF) Theater Hospital at Balad Air Base, Iraq, to care for casualties in the intermediate care ward. To prepare these nurses, they are sent to various training sessions prior to the deployment. However, according to three Chief Nurses and a Flight Commander who have served in Balad's AF Theater Hospital, the observation is that some nurses are better prepared than others. Perhaps training is the issue. If so, is there a right mix and right amount. Is WHMC's training suitable for nurses being deployed to the intermediate care ward at Balad's AF Theater Hospital. The deployment preparation of these intermediate care nurses is the target of this evaluation. Thus, the aim of this research paper is to establish a common set of ideal training requirements to prepare deploying nurses for the treatment of casualties at an intermediate care facility by assessing the following: (1) what WHMC is doing now to train their nurses, (2) reviewing the literature to discern what other military facilities are doing, and (3) identifying whether WHMC has a training gap. The result of this analysis is the need for more training in 'non-traditional' topics such as culture, language, ethics, and critical thinking, with recommendations to fill the void.