| Learning Objective #1: describe the patient care challenges during wartime and peacekeeping operations. | |||
| Learning Objective #2: discuss the personal and professional preparation and adaptation nurses make to adjust and provide nursing care under the challenging conditions of wartime or peacekeeping operations. |
Purpose: Today, the U. S. Army is performing a variety of missions that fall under the category of "Operations Other Than War (OOTW)” that includes peacekeeping and peace enforcement. The purpose of this study was to describe, and generate a theoretical analysis of, nursing practice in operations other than war (OOTW) comparing multiple locations and wartime missions. The research question guiding this study was: What is the practice of nursing by Army Nurse Corps officers in operations other than war (OOTW) compared to wartime nursing? Design: Using a descriptive qualitative design, this study was guided by the Army Nursing Practice conceptual model (Kennedy, Hill, Adams, & Jennings, 1996) and components of readiness (Reineck, 1999).
Methods: Seventy-seven Army Nurse Corps officers, both active duty and reserve component, consented to and participated in a one-time interview if they had completed a wartime or OOTW deployment. Qualitative data analysis as described by Miles and Huberman (1994) was used to simultaneously analyze and direct data collection.
Findings: Reported deployment sites for OOTW missions included Bosnia (39%), Honduras (24%), Kosovo (16%), Hungary (7%), and some individuals (≤2%) in Columbia, Virgin Islands, Philippines, Guatemala, Haiti, Soto Cano, and Peru. Wartime deployment locations included Iraq (72%), Kuwait (18%), Saudi Arabia (2%) and Afghanistan (2%) related to the current conflict. Nurses recounted challenges and adjustments they needed to make in order to deliver high quality patient care to soldiers and civilian casualties and personal adaptation skills needed in adverse living and working conditions. Nursing Implications: By understanding the practice of nursing in OOTW and wartime, leadership can best prepare and train nurses to effectively function and care for patients in these challenging settings. Findings will be useful for nurses caring for patients during natural disasters as conditions may mirror similar circumstances of adversity and patient care demands.
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