A UK Military nurse practitioner on Exercise SAIF SAREEA 3: the first Overseas deployment

Continuing professional education experiences and expectations of nurses in Chinese military hospitals: A quantitative and qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Continuing professional education (CPE) is important for maintaining the competencies of nurses. The evaluation of training needs is necessary for well-organized CPE programs.

OBJECTIVES

To obtain a deeper understanding of the past experiences and future expectations of CPE among nurses in Chinese military hospitals in order to provide empirical support for planning effective CPE programs.

DESIGN

We implemented a two-phase procedure to investigate the experiences and expectations of CPE.

SETTINGS

Twenty one hospitals across China.

PARTICIPANTS

382 nurses in quantitative study, and 20 nurses in qualitative study.

METHODS

Self-designed questionnaire was used to quantitatively measure past experiences, willingness to participate, and future expectations of CPE via a cross-sectional study. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to explore the characteristics of CPE activities among military nurses.

RESULTS

A total of 293 (76.7 %) participants had experience with CPE in the past, and 362 (94.8 %) were willing to take CPE in the future. The top five training items they wanted to learn about in the future were combat casualty care, emergency and critical care, military skills, trauma care in an austere environment, and specialist nursing. We identified the following 5 themes in the qualitative data: military missions, military training content, military medicine training content, training methods, and professional development paths.

CONCLUSIONS

Nursing administrators and educators should consider designing hierarchical, categorized CPE programs to meet the needs of self-development and professional growth among nurses.

Is there a role for an advanced practitioner in UK military prehospital care?

Recruitment and retention of doctors have been highlighted as some of the leading causes of the current perceived crisis within civilian emergency care. Indeed, the NHS recognises the contribution made by other healthcare professionals by supporting accreditation in advanced practice to mitigate the risks associated with these capability gaps. Consequently, roles such as the advanced clinical practitioner are now well established. Previous research and clinical experience in the civilian sector suggest that the advanced practitioner (AP) role could be used within Defence. Operationally, the role could be advantageous for the Defence Medical Services in the delivery of deployed healthcare. However, there is no available research that defines the role of UK military APs and, more specifically, their potential to support deployed prehospital care. Further work is required to determine how an AP might be effectively used within the military prehospital patient care pathway.

Prescribing in the prehospital environment: a review of the pharmaceutical Module 501 on UK Military Exercise SAIF SAREEA 3. Can such analysis assist with the scaling of healthcare assets?

INTRODUCTION

Module 501 provides core medications which are fundamental to the capability of a prehospital treatment team (PHTT). The quantities of each medication in the module inventory undergo regular review, but these do not correspond to a population at risk (PAR) figure or deployment length for which they intend to be used. This article proposes how the quantities of Module 501 drugs can be scaled for a given deployment, in this example using statistics taken from static PHTTs on Exercise Saif Sareea 3 (SS3).

METHODS

The statistics were gathered using a custom-built search of electronic records from the Deployed Defence Medical Information Capability Programme in addition to written record-keeping, which were aligned to the weekly PAR at each PHTT location throughout their full operational capability periods. A quotient was then derived for each module item using a formula.

RESULTS

Among the 10 most commonly prescribed drugs were four analgesics and three antimicrobials. 42 of the 110 studied drugs were not prescribed during SS3.

DISCUSSION

The data from SS3 reflect the typical scope of disease encountered in the deployed land setting. Employing these data, the use of a formula to estimate the drug quantities needed to sustain a Strike Armoured Infantry Brigade over a 28-day period is demonstrated.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Further study of Module 501 across varied deployment environments would be valuable in evolving this approach to medicinal scaling if proven effective for the warm desert climate. It could then be applied to other modules to further inform future Strike medical planning.

LIMITATIONS

Several considerations when drawing deductions from the data are mentioned, including the inaccuracy of predictor variables taken from the EpiNATO-2 reports.

CONCLUSION

The proposed formula provides an evidence-based framework for scaling drug quantities for a deployment planning. This may improve patient safety and confer logistical, storage and fiscal benefits.