ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Many military women are being called to separate from their children to go to war. Most previous research has focused upon paternal, rather than, maternal, separation. The purpose of this article is to describe the experience of military mothers and their children during wartime deployments with clinical implications for nurse practitioners (NPs) in military or community settings. DATA SOURCES: Using grounded theory methods, 37 active duty and reserve component military women participated in a one-time interview. Included were women who deployed for at least 4 months to Iraq or Afghanistan and had at least one child under the age of 12 during the separation. CONCLUSIONS: Military families present unique challenges for NPs. Mother deployments offer opportunities for intervention and anticipatory guidance across the trajectory of the separation. Military women's emotional and physical health must be supported before, during, and following deployment. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: NPs are ideally positioned to support military families. During deployment, the NP's focus may shift to care of the children and their caregiver. Before and at reintegration, NPs are in a key position to intervene early for posttraumatic stress and support family readjustment.
Subject(s)
Family/psychology , Military Personnel/psychology , Mothers/psychology , Nurse Practitioners , Warfare , Women/psychology , Adaptation, Psychological , Adult , Child , Female , Humans , Nurse's Role , Social AdjustmentABSTRACT
Military mothers and their children cope with unique issues when mothers are deployed. In this article, we present mothers' perspectives on how military resources affected them, their children, and their caregivers during deployment. Mothers described beneficial features of military programs such as family readiness groups and behavioral health care, processes such as unit support, and policies on length and timing of deployments. Aspects that were not supportive included inflexibility in family care plans, using personal leave time and funds for transporting children, denial of release to resolve caretaker issues, and limited time for reintegration. We offer recommendations for enhanced support to these families that the military could provide.