Health Needs of Returning Veterans and their Families Demand - Essay Example

Returning war military veterans, as well as their families, demand a range of health services on rejoining the society after war missions. In particular, they adequate need mental health treatment services and behavioral health needs. Most servicemen and women returning from war missions have post-traumatic stress (PTSD) as well as traumatic brain Injury (TBI) (Moring et al., 2014). These are metal illness conditions that returning officers suffer and they need treatment. Also, returning veterans suffer behavioral problems that push them into drug and substance abuse if not treated (Moring et al., 2014).

As a nurse, one can advocate for mental and behavioral health needs for returning veterans in several ways. Nurses can incorporate military and veteran health issues in nursing curricula to attract research attention and more evidence-based ways of helping returning veterans established. Also, nurses can increase access to mental and behavioral services in the communities so that returning veterans and their families can easily access them. Nurses can as well participate in the development of policies that would see more veteran programs established nationwide to increase service provision to returning veterans and their families.

For a nurse to lead in the call for more health services to the returning veterans and their families, he or she needs to have various advocacy skills such as exploration, whistle-blowing, and mediator. Exploration skills enable a nurse to explore health issues that affect the patients and can be developed by practicing the art of reading medical related articles that report health issues and trends to explore arising issues in health. Whistle-blowing skill, on the other hand, helps nurses to raise issues affecting the patients and can be developed through practice to challenge status quo and reporting things that are not right. Mediator skills are necessary for nurses especially in policy making where several teams have to be brought together. A nurse can develop mediator skills by being manipulative and a team player.

Nurses have a responsibility in the matters of the patient. A nurse is charged with speaking on behalf of a patient, ensuring that he or she receives quality care and necessary health services (Grace, 2017). For example, nurses ensure that the ministry of health supplies necessary medical equipment in healthcare units so that the patients can be accorded high-quality care. Nurses, therefore, should take the responsibility to advocate for health services to the returning veterans and their families.

References

Grace, P. J. (2017). Nursing ethics and professional responsibility in advanced practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Moring, J. C., Blankenship, A. E., Williams, J. M., Molino, A., & Peterson, A. L. (2014). PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury in Iraq and Afghanistan war. In Comprehensive Guide to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (pp. 1-12). Springer International Publishing, Cham.