By Col. Jeri I. Graham, USA (Ret), member, MOAA board of directors
“It takes a special kind of person to be a nurse,” said former first lady the late Barbara Bush. “You are there on the line every day, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.” During National Nurses Week - which began May 6 and ends May 12, on Florence Nightingale's birthday - MOAA not only recognizes and celebrates nurses in the uniformed services but also honors all those who are committed to caring for ill, injured, or wounded servicemembers and their families.
Learning from history is part of the nursing culture. From the U.S. Civil War and from other nations involved in the Crimean War, there has been a progressive development of the profession of nursing. Along with maintaining a healthy and ready fighting force, uniformed services' nursing is patient- and family-centered, with major professional pathways in clinical, education, research, and leadership. Nurses have a great history of being responsive, flexible, and innovative and using evidence-based principles. In support of national defense, as well as in humanitarian and natural disaster missions, nurses in the nation's military and commissioned corps of the U.S. Public Health Service have made invaluable contributions as part of integrated health care teams. For example, all components of all services were very much engaged in support of health care delivery in the combat theaters of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Nurses contributed heavily to research that resulted in advances in practice for in-theater and en route care. With early-on leader development starting at the unit level and continuing through advanced educational and experiential opportunities, uniformed services' nurses now are selected for high-level leadership and command positions throughout the Military Health System.
Nurses are an integral part of the military, a profession the public consistently has rated as the most honest and ethical. The core military values, along with the commitment to providing the highest quality of patient care, are demonstrated wherever nurses serve, in whatever role they serve.
As MOAA encourages members to never stop serving, members of the MOAA Uniformed Services Nurse Advocates Virtual Chapter advocate for MOAA's top legislative goals, with a special focus on health care legislation. We also keep up with professional nursing topics. Chapter members are currently serving or retired or formerly served, in all components. We're pleased to be in sync with the American Nurses Association Nurses Week 2018 theme of Inspire/Innovate/Influence. For information about membership in the MOAA Uniformed Services Nurse Advocates Virtual Chapter, please visit www.musnavc.org or email musnavc@gmail.com.
