Research interest groups: Creating the foundation for professional nursing education, mentorship, and collaboration.

Background: Research Interest Groups have been used to enhance collaboration within specialty health care areas.

Purpose: This article was to demonstrate the impact of an organic model created by the TriService Nursing Research Program which became a conduit for collaboration across the three branches of Military Nursing Services to answer relevant research questions and support evidence-based practice.

Methods: Groups were organized around different specialty topics with a focus on education, mentorship, and collaboration.

Top 10 Research Priorities for U.S. Military En Route Combat Casualty Care.

Introduction: Within the Military Health System, the process of transporting patients from an initial point of injury and throughout the entire continuum of care is called "en route care." A Committee on En Route Combat Casualty Care was established in 2016 as part of the DoD Joint Trauma System to create practice guidelines, recommend training standards, and identify research priorities within the military en route care system.

Materials And Methods: Following an analysis of currently funded research, future capabilities, and findings from a comprehensive scoping study, members of a sub-working group for research identified the top research priorities that were needed to better guide evidence-based decisions for practice and policy, as well as the future state of en route care.

Relation of post-traumatic stress disorder symptom severity to the efficacy of an animal-assisted intervention for stress reduction after military aeromedical evacuation.

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have been found to decrease stress in some settings, but it is not known if AAI is feasible in an aeromedical staging facility or effective in reducing stress following aeromedical evacuation (AE) of military personnel. An experimental design was used to evaluate the efficacy of AAI at reducing stress in AE military patients (N = 120). Patients participated in a 20-min AAI (n = 60) or 20-min informational session about assistance dogs as an attention-control group (n = 60).

Noninvasive Continuous Hemoglobin Monitoring in Combat Casualties: A Pilot Study.

Objective: To describe the accuracy and precision of noninvasive hemoglobin measurement (SpHb) compared with laboratory or point-of-care Hb, and SpHb ability to trend in seriously injured casualties.

Methods: Observational study in a convenience sample of combat casualties undergoing resuscitation at two US military trauma hospitals in Afghanistan. SpHb was obtained using the Masimo Rainbow SET (Probe Rev E/Radical-7 Pulse CO-Oximeter v 7.

Perceptions of ICU Diary Utility and Feasibility in a Combat ICU.

Severely injured patients have difficulty recalling their intensive care unit (ICU) experience which may contribute to emotional trauma. An ICU patient journal contains a short summary of key events during the ICU stay, and has been shown to improve emotional well-being. This project evaluated the feasibility and perceptions of ICU journals in a combat ICU.

Factors influencing health behaviors among active duty Air Force personnel.

Background: Individual health behaviors affect whether U.S. Air Force (USAF) service members are fit and ready to deploy.

The Fog of War: Delirium Prevalence in a Combat Intensive Care Unit.

Introduction: Delirium is a fluctuating disturbance in consciousness associated with increased mortality. Injured warriors represent a unique unstudied population. We hypothesized delirium is common because of high injury severity scores and multidrug sedation regimens.

Comparison of a ferret model with an inanimate simulator for training novices in techniques for intubating neonates.

Simulators for neonatal intubation training have improved, prompting us to compare a state-of-the-art simulator with live ferrets for training novice family-medicine residents in this crucial skill. After a scripted didactic presentation, we used a crossover study design and randomly assigned residents to receive simulator or live ferret training, after which they repeated the procedure by using the opposite method. Participants were asked to report their level of confidence and competence before and after each training session and the usefulness of each training method.

Chapter 3 innovations in the en route care of combat casualties.

The en route care environment is dynamic and requires constant innovation to ensure appropriate nursing care for combat casualties. Building on experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, there have been tremendous innovations in the process of transporting patients, including the movement of patients with spinal injuries. Advances have also been made in pain management and noninvasive monitoring, particularly for trauma and surgical patients requiring close monitoring of their hemodynamic and perfusion status.

Evolution of biomedical research during combat operations.

Background: The implementation of a human research protection program in Afghanistan and the mobilization of the combat casualty research team have made it possible to design and efficiently conduct multifaceted, multisite, and prospective research studies in a combat environment. Still, to conduct research in such an environment, several unique challenges must be overcome.

Methods: This article describes the development and conduct of three ongoing trauma-related biomedical research studies in Afghanistan, highlighting the challenges and lessons learned within the context of these studies.

Racial/ethnic disparities in the prevalence of selected chronic diseases among US Air Force members, 2008.

Introduction: Few studies have evaluated possible racial/ethnic disparities in chronic disease prevalence among US Air Force active-duty members. Because members have equal access to free health care and preventive screening, the presence of health disparities in this population could offer new insight into the source of these disparities. Our objective was to identify whether the prevalence of 4 common chronic diseases differed by race/ethnicity in this population.

Disparities in U.S. Air Force preventive health assessments and medical deployability.

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether preventive health assessment currency and medical nondeployability rates were the same for all active duty members in the U.S. Air Force.

African-American perceptions of health disparities: a qualitative analysis.

Health disparities, particularly in African-Americans, have been identified in a variety of settings. A secondary qualitative analysis of focus group data sought to describe African-American's perceptions of health disparities. Using an interpretive descriptive approach, three main levels of interaction within the health-care setting were identified that contained barriers to receiving the best possible care.

Developing evidence-based nursing roles: lessons learned from the health care integrator role.

Purpose: This study examined a unique nursing role in the United States Air Force to determine if it had been well institutionalized and to identify barriers and facilitators during the implementation process.

Source Of Information: Individuals functioning in the role were surveyed to measure time spent on specific job-related tasks, additional duties, and positive and negative experiences.

Conclusions: Eighty-seven percent of the respondents (n = 45) indicated that the role had been well implemented, although wide variation existed in tasks performed and major organizational barriers identified.