Assisting our wartime nurses and medical professionals

Nurses, medics, and physicians are often overlooked as suffering from post-traumatic stress because they are not necessarily viewed as being “in combat situations.” However, these brave medical professionals also encounter the horrors of war on a daily basis during their deployment and it can affect them greatly upon their return to civilian life.

Drs. Sharon Richie-Melvan and Diane Vines have written a book about this very subject called Angel Walk: Nurses at War in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Sharon is both a nurse and retired Lieutenant Colonel from the Army while Dr. Diane is a professor of nursing at the University of Portland and the first civilian nurse White House Fellow. However, these distinguished women humbly share stories and interviews from those nurses who have served on the battlefield from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan.  These stories give civilians and families of military personnel an understanding of the experience that most veterans avoid sharing directly with those who have not served. Many Veterans don’t share these stories because they don’t want to traumatize others or believe that anyone who hasn’t served could understand what they’ve been through. Drs. Sharon and Diane sensitively present their accounts, and then follow with ways we can support and assist our service men and women in their readjustment after deployment.

The second section of the book is rich with resources and hopeful accounts of of ways that people can recover from the stress of war and reintegrate back into life successfully. The authors caution that it takes time and both veterans and their families need to have realistic expectations. The authors also address Military Sexual Trauma that occurs for one in seven women who have served and do a nice job of removing the stigma of seeking support for overcoming such traumas. Many military personnel worry that seeking help from the VA will go on their records and impact their careers. While the VA is doing better about acknowledging that you do not have to have mental health problems to develop post-traumatic stress, the authors note other places soldiers can seek support outside government systems if they want.

If you or someone you care about is struggling with post-traumatic stress and readjustment back to civilian life, read this book. It will help you understand what they are going through and how to be sensitive to their needs. Once I began reading it, I could not put it down. Highly recommended!

Thanks to all our Battlefield Angels who risked their lives to save ours.