Advancing Readiness Through Military Programs: An Evidence-Based Practice Perspective.

INTRODUCTION: Military nurses comprise the largest percentage of military health care providers. In the current military health care system, they have two roles: (1) Patient care in military treatment facilities (MTFs) and (2) patient care during combat operations. Although in MTFs, the military nurse's roles are similar to those of their civilian counterpart, their roles are unique and varied in the combat operational environment. These combined roles lead to questions regarding readiness training to ensure that nurses are proficient in both MTFs and combat operational settings where treatment requirements may differ. The purpose of this paper is to (1) present the current state of educational readiness programs to maintain a ready medical force that entail formal teaching programs, military-civilian partnerships, and joint exercises of combat simulations, and (2) identify gaps as presented in an evidence-based practice educational panel. METHODS: On March 11, 2022, TriService Nursing Research Program hosted the virtual First Military Evidence-Based Practice Summit from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. As part of the summit, an evidence-based practice education panel discussed the availability of current evidence-driven military medical readiness programs and identified gaps in the integration of military readiness for nursing personnel into the Defense Health Agency and Armed Services. RESULTS: The panel participants discussed the separate requirements for training within the MTFs and in combat operational settings. The available training programs identified by the panel were primarily those developed in local MTF settings to meet local needs. Although these programs support the MTFs' peacetime mission, competing roles, limited time, and limited funds contributed to limited preparation of nursing personnel in skills associated with combat-related injuries and illnesses. Prolonged casualty care has become an important focus for the Department of Defense as greater considerations are directed to wartime operations in austere expeditionary environments. Although there is some training available that is specific for prolonged casualty care, the focus has been the adaptation of combat casualty care during contingency operations. A keynote here was the concept that combat casualty care training must include both development of individual skills and integration of the team since maximal care can be achieved only when the individual and the team operate as a unit. A key point was the utility of central repositories for storing information related to training a ready medical force at individual and unit levels and that these repositories could also be used to collect and facilitate the accession of current evidence-based information. DISCUSSION: Optimal patient care at all levels of the military health system requires training that maximizes individual and unit skills specific to the environment at an MTF or in a combat operational setting. Training must be designed to incorporate evidence-driven knowledge in all military settings with guidance that is specific to the environment. CONCLUSION: Enhanced communication of evidence-based training and knowledge is an important component of maintaining a ready medical force for broader medical support of combat contingency operations.

Addressing Burnout in the Primary Care Setting: The Impact of an Evidence-Based Mindfulness Toolkit.

BACKGROUND: Burnout is insidious and manifests over prolonged, repeated exposure to occupational stressors. There is a growing crisis among health care workers (HCWs) due to high levels of burnout and associated adverse outcomes. Identifying and addressing burnout can be problematic due to extensive variances of perceived occupational stressors across HCWs. PURPOSE: Mindfulness-based training can enhance individual HCWs' abilities to perceive and constructively respond to stresses endemic in the health care environment. It can reduce the prevalence of burnout in the primary care setting. An evidence-based multimodal Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction toolkit (MBSR TK) was designed, implemented, and evaluated for its impact on HCWs' self-reported stress levels (SRSL). IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES: A pre-post-program evaluation explored the impact of a multimodal toolkit program on HCW SRSL with the Mini-Z burnout survey (MZBS). The MBSR TK program, consisting of a 45 minute introduction and 4 biweekly 15 minute mindfulness sessions offering acupressure, meditation, journaling for gratitude, and self-compassion was designed, delivered, and evaluated with HCWs across 2 military primary care clinics in South Texas. RESULTS: All HCWs across 2 Air Force family practice clinics were invited to participate in all toolkit components. Seventy percent of all HCWs (N = 90) attended the introduction session. Thirty-seven (41%) HCWs completed pre and post MZBSs, and these responses are included in the data analysis section. The most represented HCWs were registered nurses, physician assistants, and technicians, respectively, at 24%, 21%, and 18%. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test examined changes in HCWs' SRSL after participation in the MBSR TK program. HCWs who attended the introduction plus one biweekly session showed statistically significant decreases in self-reported stress (P = 0.018) and burnout (P = 0.045) and a significant increase in electronic health record proficiency (P = 0.033). CONCLUSIONS: Multimodal mindfulness toolkits to address SRSL burnout are practical, accessible, easily implemented, adaptive to any environment, and can decrease burnout with participation with just one 15 minute session. This MBSR TK implementation effectively lowered self-reported stress in HCWs who are repeatedly challenged to adapt to various settings around the world during peacetime, wars, natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and now, pandemics.

COVID-19 palliative care toolkit development and military health system deployment.

BACKGROUND: During the initial phase of the pandemic, we identified a critical gap in the Military Health System's access to palliative care. Our team of nurse scientists and evidence-based practice (EBP) facilitators aimed to develop and implement an evidence-based point of care palliative care toolkit for frontline workers in inpatient settings lacking established palliative care specialists. METHODOLOGY: We utilized Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt's (2018) seven-step EBP process. Six central themes were derived from 17 publications providing an evidence-base for toolkit resource selection and development. Our practice change implementation was piloted at a large West Coast military treatment facility. We included iPads in the toolkit for patient communication and palliative mobile application use. RESULTS: The most significant finding was the critical and continued need for basic palliative care education and training. Integrating the palliative care toolkit into daily practice was promising yet challenging due to the high volume of deployed medical staff.

Implementing Evidence-Based Practice Facilitators: A Case Series.

BACKGROUND: In 2017, the TriService Nursing Research Program completed a strategic planning session, which identified key barriers to implementing evidence-based practice (EBP) within the U.S. Military Health System (MHS) including a focus on readiness training and deployments, frequent staff moves for military members, and relatively junior nurses in clinical roles. To facilitate EBP at individual military treatment facilities (MTFs), an EPB Facilitator role was developed using an evidence-based model and based on validated EBP competencies. METHODS: This new role was implemented at four MTFs in 2018: Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, 59th Medical Wing at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland, Naval Medical Center San Diego, and David Grant USAF Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base. This case series provides a description of the initial implementation of this role. RESULTS: Common enablers and challenges were identified from the experiences at all four sites. These included the importance of incorporating efforts into existing organizational efforts and infrastructure; the value of nurse leaders inviting EBP facilitators to participate and engage in scheduled meetings and committees; the significance of engaging with existing quality, process improvement, and training initiatives; and the benefit of collaborating with advanced practice nurses within the organization. The common challenges for all EBP facilitators were the frequent staff turnover at all levels and a lack of standardization to review and approve EBP initiatives, which makes it difficult to navigate the complete process of project implementation and collaboration across sites. Another challenge has been the difficulty to measure the impact of this role at the MTF and MHS levels. CONCLUSIONS: As EBP efforts continue and the program matures, it is anticipated that the outcomes from the individually completed projects, to include decreases in safety events, fiscal savings, and other improvements in organizational metrics, can be compiled to demonstrate the collective impact of these roles within the MHS.