Preparing Staff to Care for Veterans in a Way They Need and Deserve

How to Obtain Contact Hours by Reading this Issue Instructions: 1.2 contact hours will be awarded by Villanova University College of Nursing upon successful completion of this activity. A contact hour is a unit of measurement that denotes 60 minutes of an organized learning activity. This is a learner-based activity. Villanova University College of Nursing does not require submission of your answers to the quiz. A contact hour certificate will be awarded after you register, pay the registration fee, and complete the evaluation form online at http://goo.gl/gMfXaf . In order to obtain contact hours you must: 1. Read the article, “Preparing Staff to Care For Veterans in a Way They Need and Deserve,” found on pages 109–118, carefully noting any tables and other illustrative materials that are included to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the content. Be sure to keep track of the amount of time (number of minutes) you spend reading the article and completing the quiz. 2. Read and answer each question on the quiz. After completing all of the questions, compare your answers to those provided within this issue. If you have incorrect answers, return to the article for further study. 3. Go to the Villanova website to register for contact hour credit. You will be asked to provide your name, contact information, and a VISA, MasterCard, or Discover card number for payment of the $20.00 fee. Once you complete the online evaluation, a certificate will be automatically generated. This activity is valid for continuing education credit until February 28, 2018 . Contact Hours This activity is co-provided by Villanova University College of Nursing and SLACK Incorporated. Villanova University College of Nursing is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Objectives Identify two reasons why civilian nurses will see an increase of military veterans in community health care facilities. Summarize three signature health situations for which Global War on Terror military veterans could be assessed. Disclosure Statement Neither the planners nor the authors have any conflicts of interest to disclose. More than 2.5 million military veterans have been deployed for service in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, whereas another 20 million veterans currently reside in the United States. For various reasons, increasing numbers of military and associated personnel from various wars could go to civilian population-based care facilities for their rest-of-life health care. Therefore, educational activities are important to prepare nursing staff for the culturally sensitive care that veterans, their dependents, and civilian contractor personnel need. This article (a) provides rationale for veterans’ admissions, (b) summarizes some common health situations that veterans are likely to encounter, (c) stresses major educational goals, and (d) emphasizes the use of the universal assessment question: Have you ever served in the military? Several educational implications and challenges are discussed, including war zone physiology, reintegration, military culture and pride, ethical challenges, educational speakers, simulation, veteran individuality, and compassion fatigue. Available resources to accompany this content are provided. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2015;46(3):109–118.