On our November cover, members of the U.S. Army stand amid a dust storm in Afghanistan in 2009. This month's Environment and Health article, "Military Environmental Exposures," discusses what nurses need to know about caring for people who have been exposed to potentially harmful agents-such as air pollutants, chemicals, radiation, warfare agents, and materials containing asbestos and lead-during military service. Author Cashmere Miller, a lieutenant in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and an NP for environmental health at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Atlanta, outlines key military conflicts and their associated exposure concerns; explains exposure-informed care, including risk communication, assessment, and care planning; and offers health-related resources for veterans and their families, as well as resources providers can access to become better informed about military environmental exposures.

Figure. Photo courtesy of the U.S Army.

November is National Veterans and Military Families Month. "Veterans may carry visible or invisible wounds, and many attribute symptoms and long-term conditions to varying occupational and environmental exposures," Miller writes in her article. "Health care providers play an integral role in ensuring favorable health outcomes for veterans."-Diane Szulecki, editor