Focusing Nurses on Long- and Short-term Health Needs of Veterans and Their Families

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

I’m always humbled when I speak with veterans or families of veterans. The commitment to duty of the military and the sacrifices their families make—long periods of being single parents; nerve-racking times wondering after the well-being of a spouse or child; missed birthdays, graduations, and milestones—never cease to amaze me.

served2Last October, nurse Linda Schwartz, at the time commissioner of Veterans Affairs for Connecticut, spoke at the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) meeting about the health needs of veterans.

As we pointed out in a blog post about the meeting, she emphasized “the importance of knowing whether a patient has a military service history because many health issues may be service associated. For example, toxic effects from depleted uranium and heavy metals such as those found in ordinance or from exposure to agents like Agent Orange may not manifest themselves for years.” […]

2016-11-21T13:03:34-05:00November 11th, 2014|Nursing|1 Comment
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VA Nursing Leadership Silent on Veterans’ Wait Times Scandal

By Gail M. Pfeifer, MA, RN, AJN news director

Audie L. Murphy Veterans Administration Hospital in San Antonio, TX / Wikimedia Commons Audie L. Murphy Veterans Administration Hospital in San Antonio, TX / Wikimedia Commons

I’ve been trying to arrange an interview with a nurse in a leadership role at the VA’s Office of Nursing Services (ONS) for over a month now, with little success.

Granted, an excessive wait time for an interview pales in comparison with how long many veterans have had to wait for health care. Still, this has given me a tiny taste of what it must be like to enroll with the Veterans Health Administration for services: you can contact them, but you have to wait a really long time to even schedule a first appointment.

A substantive interview with AJN might have been a golden opportunity for the ONS to get out ahead of the story that has plagued the VA since the Phoenix scandal about lengthy waiting times at the VA broke in early May. (I did finally get a response of sorts. More on that below.)

To recap: The allegations in May that the Phoenix VA system had manipulated data about appointment wait times to hide the fact that veterans were not getting timely appointments galvanized public and Congressional […]

2016-11-21T13:04:19-05:00July 9th, 2014|Nursing, nursing perspective|5 Comments
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American Academy of Nursing Spotlights Veteran Health Care, Names New ‘Living Legends’

By Maureen Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

Have You Ever Served? For me, the annual meeting of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) is a great venue for networking and connecting with old friends (including some from nursing school days 40 years ago). And there are always interesting sessions such as the Living Legends awards and a presentation about veterans’ health.

Few schools of nursing teach nursing history anymore, and unless you’re plugged into a professional association you won’t know about the accomplishments of those who’ve shaped the profession. That’s a shame. Nursing has been rich with women and men of action who’ve forged new ways of thinking about, practicing, and teaching nursing. At this year’s AAN meeting, four nursing movers and shakers were added as “living legends” (the Academy’s highest honor) during the event that’s always a highlight at the annual meeting. This year’s “class” includes:

(Ret.) General Clara Adams-Ender, whose army career began as a private and ended as a brigadier general (she was the first nurse to become a general!) and chief of the Army Nurse Corps.

Hattie Bessent, a staunch advocate and leader in creating opportunities in nursing for minority groups.

Margaret Miles, a pioneer in pediatric nursing whose research and work with parents of critically ill children has led to family-centered care practices in ICUs.

Jean Watson, whose ground-breaking theory development, research and practice around the science of caring is known around the world.

The health needs of veterans. Another […]

2016-11-21T13:06:13-05:00October 24th, 2013|nursing perspective, nursing research|1 Comment
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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