ABSTRACT
Many features of the COVID-19 pandemic and care during natural disasters echo the austere settings encountered by nurses serving in forward-deployed military units. CPT Welder's deployment experience with the 21st Combat Support Hospital (CSH) was anything but ordinary because over the next 180 days, the CSH would provide care for nearly 1800 trauma patients. In addition to dealing with an onslaught of casualties, CPT Welder and his colleagues were a world away from home living in an active combat zone on the fringes of a battlefield. While the merit of sending a new graduate to war can be debated, CPT Welder met the requirements to deploy;he was physically fit and was a board-certified Nurse Anesthetist. Research and anecdotal evidence have both demonstrated that traditional educational programs do not adequately prepare RNs or APRNs to provide care in austere or forward-deployed military settings. Based on these experiences, the GSN faculty encourages all nursing school's faculty to consider making an investment in curricular change to prepare graduates to provide care in unusual, stressful, and underresourced environments. As COVID has so clearly demonstrated, every nurse needs to be prepared to provide care in unusual, stressful, and resource constrained settings, sometimes right here in the United States. In 2005, many military members were deployed to Iraq, but this story is significant because this alumnus, Captain (CPT) Welder, was deployed to Iraq 88 days after earning his Nurse Anesthesia Degree. Nursing leaders must prepare future nurses for care outside of traditional practice. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Annually an estimated 40,000 CYP in the UK sustain an ABI with many experiencing significant, life-long impairments that impact on physical and psychological development, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), educational achievement and social inclusion. Patients and methods: A quantitative cross-sectional survey was completed as part of a mixed methods study which aims to explore the longer term needs of CYP-ABI aged 5-18 and their families in one region of the UK. Participants were recruited using eligibility criteria through a regional specialist clinical service. Ethical approval was gained (REC-20/ EM/0258). The survey consisted of demographic questions and standardised outcome measures completed by the parent or CYP-Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 (PedsQL), PedsQL-Family Impact Module (PedsQL-FIM), Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation (CASP), Parental Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Additional free text questions were included to capture parent and CYP goals, impact of Covid-19 lockdowns and any other information they wished to share. Results: 44 families have completed the survey so far, a response rate of 26%. CYP PedsQL scores indicated 31% were at risk of impaired HRQoL and the CASP indicated 68% had severely impaired social participation. 48% of families had impaired family HRQoL (PedsQL-FIM) and 48% of parents screened positive for anxiety, depression or both (PHQ-4). Conclusion: These preliminary results indicate the long-term impact of an ABI on CYP and family HRQoL and CYP social participation. The context behind these scores will be explored more deeply in qualitative interviews during the next phase of the study.