Project SERVE nurses visit Walter Reed Betheda

Photo By Mark Oswell | Nursing students from Auburn University - Montgomery’s School of Nursing have a chance encounter with Navy HM2 Sully, former President George H.W. Bush's service dog, while visiting Walter Reed National Military Medical as part of their Project SERVE program.  

BETHESDA, MD, UNITED STATES

03.11.2019

Story by Mark Oswell 

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Coming from a family steep in service to others, Lori Duck decided to become a nurse. Her husband, brother, father, father-in-law – all served in the military. She switched careers 10 years ago, going from being a paralegal to becoming a registered nurse, in order to care for others, especially service members and veterans.

“I fell in love with nursing. I fell in love with the care,” she explained. “I got to see the change in people.” Duck continued, explaining how rewarding it is to see how her care helps patients leave the hospital and move on with their lives.

Duck, who worked at the East Alabama Medical Center, is now working on her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at Auburn University - Montgomery’s School of Nursing.

In early March, she and seven of her classmates from AUM spent their spring break at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as part of the nursing schools at Auburn University and AUM’s Project SERVE program.

Now in its sixth year, Project SERVE provides a foundation for AU and AUM nursing students to gain a better understanding of the unique needs of service members and veterans.

David Crumbley, assistant clinical professor at AUM’s School of Nursing and a former Navy nurse, and retired Navy captain Michelle Kane came up with the concept of Project SERVE – Student Education Related to the Veteran Experience (SERVE) while both worked at WRNMMC.

The agreement between with WRNMMC and the Alabama universities focuses on jointly developing training opportunities for nursing students to conceptualize the challenges faced by returning service members and veterans; understand the best practices associated with caring for these individuals and their families; and disseminate the most up-to-date information on traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. They share the knowledge gained from the collaboration with other health-care personnel and community members via distance learning technology.

Project SERVE is broken into three components of pre-deployment, deployment and post-deployment.
Pre-deployment prepares the student for engaging with veteran patients, and what they should expect from the deployment component. The deployment component consists of a five-day experience in the Washington, D.C. area where students spend three full days at WRNMMC. The final component is a reflective phase during which the students describe their experience and its impact on them.

Marilyn Rhodes, associate professor at AUM and a retired Air Force colonel, served as one of the chaperones for this year’s group of nursing students. She explained the importance of the students coming to WRNMMC to get nursing experience firsthand.


During their three days at the medical center, the Project SERVE nursing students received multiple briefs, toured various clinics and wards, and were able to speak directly with providers and patients.

What impressed Duck the most during her WRNMMC experience, she explained, was the way the staff put the patient first. “The rank doesn’t matter when it comes to the patient. Everybody is on the same page.”

Jorden Simpson, another Project SERVE nursing student, echoed Duck’s sentiments about WRNMMC’s staff, stating, “Everyone here is truly family, and it’s not a family that you were born into. Everyone here want to be here.”

The nursing students received briefings on WRNMMC’s medical evacuation process, multi-disciplinary approach to care and PTSD within the military population during their three days at WRNMMC. Students also rotated through the Military Advanced Training Center, the National Intrepid Center of Excellence and several inpatient wards. In addition, the faculty and staff were afforded the opportunity to interact with WRNMMC’s facilities dogs, including the newest addition – HM3 Sully H.W. Bush.

During their tour of the facility, Army Maj. Leigh-Ann Lechanski, office-in-charge MATC and deputy chief for WRNMMC’s Physical Therapy Service, served as a guide and presenter. She saw the Project SERVE experience as a program that could also benefit WRNMMC and military beneficiaries in general.

“These visitation events are a great recruitment tool for the federal health-care system to attract future Department of Defense or Veterans Affairs skilled clinicians that have a passion for treating service members, veterans, and their family members,” explained Lechanski. “It is important for civilian health-care students to see and understand the federal health-care system because it highlights the expanded scope of practice that licensed independent practitioners have to serve as physician extenders.”

“It is important for civilian health-care providers to be knowledgeable of the federal health-care system's resources to ensure that any veteran they treat in the community has access to the benefits/services they have earned through military service,” the major added.

Rhodes, Duck and Simpson all noted how impressed they were with the staff member’s level of respect for the patients, each other and especially the nursing staff.

Students, administrators and mentors said Walter Reed Bethesda provided an invaluable lessons on military care. The Project SERVE students also noted the importance for them to share what they learned and experienced with others.

“We, as a nursing community, need to teach and give back,” Duck concluded.

• Date Taken: 03.11.2019
• Date Posted: 05.21.2019 09:17
• Story ID: 323225
• Location: BETHESDA, MD, US