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The TriService Nursing Research Program (TSNRP) at the Uniformed Services University (USU), hosted its fourth Women in Combat Summit. Through collaboration with AMSUS, The Society of Federal Health Professionals, the virtual conference covered topics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Sexual Assault and Harassment; and Well Being and Psychological Health through gender-specific needs.
TSNRP develops nurse scholars to support, promote, and conduct military nursing research. It’s the country’s only Department of Defense program to facilitate research opportunities for military nurses. Since its inception thirty years ago in September 1992, TSNRP has funded more than 500 grants totaling more than $100 million.
The dispersal of these funds have fueled change in education, clinical practice, and policy across the Defense Health Agency. This support optimizes the health of military members and their beneficiaries. The program fosters research through sponsorship of six Research Interest Groups (RIGS). The RIGs are anesthesia, biobehavioral health, health systems/informatics, military family, and military women’s health.
The Women in Combat Summit is an example of the TSNRP's commitment to education and training to increase nursing competence and practice.
Army Col. Young Yauger, executive director of TSNRP, says “TSNRP is fully engaged in conducting research to help fill gaps in literature that solves major strategic problems for the Department of Defense.”
The agenda included more than 15 panelists from an array of medical fields and service backgrounds and agencies.
Keynote speaker Col. Hope Williamson-Younce opened the summit with a presentation on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Military Health System. Williamson-Younce is the interim Chief for the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and on the Executive Board of Directors for TSNRP.
Even though official policy didn’t allow women in combat until 2015, Williamson-Younce said the many women who fulfilled combat roles before then were “ready, innovative, and willing.” The focus was on the patient, and the call to answer a need.
“DEI starts with you,” Williamson-Younce said, adding that it is up to attendees of the summit to mentor and guide their fellow colleagues. She says it’s up to current military healthcare professionals to bring others along with them to fulfill the opportunities that still remain for implementing change.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Katherine Simonson, Deputy Assistant Director for Research and Development, Defense Health Agency, spoke on Innovation in Healthcare and the Importance of Nursing. Although women in service are “sometimes in the rear and in the shadows,” Simonson said, she discussed how that dynamic is beginning to shift.
“Gender gaps in military research often miss the research, miss out on female data,” Simonson said. And while Simonson acknowledges there is more field left to cover in bringing that gap, awareness of the disparity is changing how further research is conducted.
The second day of the summit included keynote topics centered on sexual assault and harrassment. Dr. Holly Hoffmeyer led a discussion on Gender Sensitive Care, while Army Capt. Celeste Chavez, a certified nurse midwife, led a discussion on Trauma Sensitive Care. Five panelists from the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response office contributed to the dialogue.
The final day of the summit included a keynote briefing from Ms. Seileen Mullen, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. Women are the “fastest growing part of the force”, Mullen said. And healthcare, she says, has always been essential to encourage more gender diversity among service members.
“We need to invigorate our health care system,” Mullen said. Events such as the Women in Combat Summit, where clinicians, scientists, researchers and other healthcare professionals connect with colleagues in their practice, is a way to move forward in that mission.
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 08.03.2023 07:57 |
| Story ID: | 450584 |
| Location: | BETHESDA, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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