Has your program of nursing pledged to support the Joining Forces initiative? If you are unfamiliar with the initiative, Joining Forces (http://www.whitehouse.gov/joiningforces) is a national endeavor to mobilize all sectors of society in support of service members and their families. Nursing leaders and hundreds of nursing organizations have committed to "touch every nurse" in the country to raise awareness of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in military veterans. Individuals and organizations can join the "pledge" from links on the Web site.
Although veterans and military service members are found in every community, "only 50% of our returning military are able to receive care in a military or VA system. The rest are cared for in their home communities" (http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ThePracticeofProfessionalNursing/Impr). This means that daily you and your students are caring for veterans who, in most cases, will present as civilians.
In addition, faculty and other members of the campus community also encounter military veterans returning to institutions of higher education as nursing students. In many cases, these returning veterans have special learning needs. Raising awareness among nurse educators, administrators, and students about the signs of PTSD and TBI as they do assessments will contribute to the provision of total patient care.
In this issue, the article, Joining Forces: Integrating Women Veteran Care Into Nursing Simulations, provides background information on the Joining Forces initiative and a strategy to address the issue while being sensitive to an already content-heavy curriculum.
And in support of our veterans, if you go to our journal's Web site at NurseEducatorOnline.com and select the "collections" tab (http://journals.lww.com/nurseeducatoronline/pages/collectiondetails.aspx?Topical) at the top of the Web page, you will see some articles related to the military, veterans' care, and nursing.
Thanks to all who are in service to their country. We, as nurses, will be there to support you!
Suzanne P. Smith, EdD, RN, FAAN
Editor-in-Chief