Unfortunately, potential barriers may exist for this group of non-traditional students as they leave a structured, mission-driven culture and enter a classroom environment in higher education. Military training and nursing education in the higher education context are vastly different. Most veterans come to the classroom with significant life experiences, maturity, high levels of self-efficacy, and possible deployments around the world (Dyar, 2016; Morrison-Beedy & Rossiter, 2018). Understanding their experiences may help to recruit and retain more veterans in baccalaureate nursing programs; ultimately impacting the global workforce.
One effort to address the nursing shortage and increase enrollment and progression of military veterans to become registered nurses is nursing programs creating pathways and fast tracks (Allen, Armstrong, Saladiner, Hamilton, & Conard, 2014; D’Aoust, Rossiter, & Clochesy, 2016; Morrison-Beedy & Rossiter, 2018). Through grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in 2014, Veteran’s Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing [VBSN] programs (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2014) were established and funded. By 2017, over two dozen nursing programs were awarded grants to continue to grow VBSN programs (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018). Publications describing the implementation of these programs and lessons learned have been reported in the literature (Sikes et al., 2017; Voelpel, Escallier, Fullerton, & Rodriguez, 2018).
What is not known is how veterans transfer knowledge and learning acquired during military service to their transition to nursing education. Transfer is the ability to extend what one has learned in one context to another context (Perkins & Salomon, 1992). Perkins and Salomon (1992) argued that “transfer is crucial to education, which generally aspires to impact on contexts quite different from the context of learning...education can be designed to honor these conditions and achieve transfer” (p. 2). Understanding how students coming from a military culture transfer learning and knowledge acquired in the military to the nursing classroom can expand what is known about how to best facilitate or enhance the veterans’ progression to degree completion and beyond. Additionally, this information can help faculty to build on previously acquired knowledge and enhance the learning experience.
The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine the transition of military veterans to Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) programs. A second purpose was to examine how veterans transfer learning and knowledge from their military experience to their BSN education.
Methods: Following human subjects approval, participants were recruited using the researchers’ network of contacts, word of mouth, and snowball sampling. Convenience sampling of schools of nursing located within a 50 miles radius of large military installations and programs with established VBSN programs were also emailed to recruit potential study participants. The final sample consisted of five male and six female (N= 11) military veterans. Participants represented all branches of service with an average age of 34 (M = 33.8) and an average of 8 years of military service (M = 7.7). Eight of the 11 reported being deployed at least once and five reported prior health related experience. Prior education of the sample ranged from none to a Master’s degree, with the majority having some previous college.
Demographic data were collected on each participant. Individual interviews were conducted via videoconferencing, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Content and thematic analysis was conducted on transcribed interviews. Validation of themes with participants was completed. Descriptive statistics described the participant group.
Results: Four themes were revealed through analysis of the data that captured what this group of veteran nursing students described as to their experience of transition and learning transfer. The themes were: Embracing and living core professional values, Practicing and learning from a common goal-oriented perspective, Learning how and when to communicate with faculty and healthcare members, andIncorporating learned behaviors into everyday professional practice.
Conclusion: Based on the data, strategies were identified by the veterans that would facilitate their learning experience and enhance knowledge transfer in their pursuit of a nursing degree. Nurse faculty need to first acknowledge the drastic change in culture for this student population. Additionally, faculty recognition and assessment of what these non-traditional students bring to the classroom is an important component. The veterans stressed that they did not want special treatment but rather acknowledgement for what they can offer to the teaching-learning environment in both the classroom and clinical settings.
With the continued growth of numbers of veterans in nursing programs, faculty, as well as schools of nursing, need to be aware of how to best facilitate their learning and build on their diverse experiences and expertise. Maximizing the strengths of veterans during their educational experience can only enhance the experience for all and contribute to a stronger global workforce.