Understanding Interconnectedness From the Military Nurse Perspective

Abstract

Nurses who serve in the military have a unique perspective on nursing and health care delivery that nurtures wholeness and inspires peace and healing on a global scale. The purpose of this study was to explore health promotion and healing from the military nurse perspective. Video-recorded interviews were conducted with 10 military nurses who represented various branches and times of service. Participants were asked to share their experiences as military nurses and discuss the challenges and rewards. Thematic analysis of the recorded interviews revealed two major themes: interconnectedness and human potential. This study showed that military nurses have unique experiences that influenced their way of promoting health and healing. Interconnectedness with family (personal and military) had many positive and negative factors. Interconnectedness with the health care team was more prominent for the nurses during military service than in the civilian arena. Global interconnectedness included working with teams from around the world, helping children of detainees see that Americans were not evil, and caring for international communities. Military service strengthened the three human qualities of mind, body, and spirit, which resulted in increasing each military nurse's human potential by enabling them to serve as instruments of healing on a global scale.