Mental Health Issues among Military Nurses

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Military nurses are the nursing professionals serving in the military. Most of them work in the Army, Airforce, and Navy. These nurses offer direct care to those serving in the military and their families.

Their roles also involve discharging medical duties to wounded soldiers and other nursing responsibilities.

Unlike civilian nurses, military nurses work in war zones and dangerous work environments. Thus, it is not uncommon for military nurses to suffer from emotional and mental health issues.

The mental health concerns among military nurses emanate from their exposure to terrifying work environments.

Why mental health concerns among nurses serving in the military?

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Most studies show a nexus between active military service and mental health challenges. Research undertaken in the United Kingdom disclosed that military personnel and nurses deployed in war zones for more than a year were more likely to have mental health problems.

The majority of individuals working in the military are also more susceptible to stress. Military nurses may experience mental health issues because of combat experience, high work demand, and separation from their families.

Statistics show that exposure to stressful and traumatic incidences is more likely to cause emotional distress. However, when such exposures are prolonged, they result in mental health challenges.

Military nurses’ most common mental health challenges are depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and drug and substance abuse.

Thus, military nurses are more vulnerable to trauma because of the exposure to stressful work environments, war, deaths, and injuries.

Why is military nursing more stressful than traditional nursing?

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The underlying difference between military and traditional nursing is that it entails traveling with soldiers to war zones to offer care to them.

As a result, military nurses care for the current and past military members. For example, they assist soldiers wounded while discharging their responsibilities recover from injuries.

They can also treat military men suffering from other medical diseases, such as cancer.

As you have gotten a glimpse of what this profession entails, you will agree with me that military nursing is more stressful and challenging than traditional nursing.

It also involves risking one’s life as patriotism becomes the first consideration. Military nurses are deployed to foreign war zones with troops in most cases.

The nature of their work makes them undergo rigorous training on how to work with military patients. Additionally, they are also trained to work in a military environment.

Secondly, military nursing can be challenging since the nurses work alongside military personnel in war zones since their core responsibility is providing care to these troops.

As a result, they treat extreme life-threatening injuries like gunshot wounds. In some cases, when the battle becomes fierce, they are forced to work under intense pressure, risking their lives to save lives.

The nature of their work and the horrible environments they are deployed to make them susceptible to mental health challenges because of distress, anxiety, trauma, and post-traumatic disorders.

Therefore, military nursing is a stressful responsibility demanding they take care of soldiers’ needs. However, it also requires these nurses to take care of their mental and emotional well-being to remain healthy and productive in their service.

Real-life experiences of military nurses in the war zone

Military Nurses in Vietnam

War has been part and parcel of most countries in this age. Countries like Libya, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and countries within the Horn of Africa have been in protracted conflicts.

As a result, troops and nurses have been deployed in those areas to restore calmness.

The war in Vietnam employed some of the most challenging tactics like guerilla warfare, leaving most people injured with emotional distress.

The American nurses who served as military nurses in Vietnam were recent graduates from nursing schools. They willingly volunteered to go to Vietnam to assist the wounded American soldiers.

They encountered physical threats, many casualties, and mental stress as they discharged their duties of caring for the injured persons.

The most remorseful thing is that their roles and welfare were sidelined by the government when they applied for veteran benefits.

These women nurses were highly susceptible to a post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and relationship challenges. Some of them lost trust from their parents, who believed that military women were of low moral character.

The above shows some of the pertinent mental health concerns among military nurses. Some of these mental health issues arose from their war zone experiences, while some originated from their parents’ and communities’ victimization, which linked military women to low moral character.

Cold War and World War experiences

Military nursing professionals have been pivotal in all the major wars. For example, during the civil war, nurse volunteers faced harsh conditions.

During the Second World War (WW2), some were captured by the Japanese and imprisoned. These nurses were incarcerated for more than 36 months in Bataan. They suffered in prison in their attempt to save lives.

Thus, it is believed that the nurses’ empathy often causes them to suffer secondary post-traumatic stress.

Military nurses during WW2 discharged their duties in Germany, France, and Sicily. Their primary roles entailed saving lives.

Contrariwise, these nurses suffered in silence as they tried to help the troops. On the other hand, these nurses were hurting silently because of the war zone experience.

In some cases, they work for long hours, such as 24 hours without breaks when casualties are more.

The deduction from this discussion is that nurses, especially military nurses, deal with emotional and mental health issues because of stress, horrific experiences in war zones, burnout, and separation from their families.

Strategy to curb mental health concerns among military nurses

The military department recognizes these mental health challenges among military nurses. Thus, they introduced programs to address stress injury and resilience.

These programs recognized mental health concerns like stress as physical injuries, demanding prompt measures to prevent escalating effects.

As a result, military nurses have been urged to utilize the stress injury concept. The concept aims at relieving military nurses’ work-related stress.