Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
Naval Home Port, Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, Camp Pendleton, CA 92055, USA.
Mil Med. 2024 Jan 23;189(1-2):13-16. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usad140.
The number of women in the military has more than tripled over the past 50 years, increasing from 5% in the 1970s to 17% in 2023, making them essential for global health engagement and military operations. Provider competence and confidence are barriers to the consistent availability of preventive, gynecologic, and reproductive services for women across service locations and duty platforms. The Defense Health Board recommends standardizing services and improving the availability and scope of services for women at every point of care. In direct conflict with these recommendations, however, is a congressional call for a drawdown of medical forces, which creates a need for operationally trained clinicians with a broad skill set including comprehensive care for women. Advanced practice registered nurses, such as family and women's health nurse practitioners, are key assets to fill this gap on military medical health-care teams. At the request of the U.S. Air Force, the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University began offering a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP) program in 2014. The WHNP curriculum was layered onto the existing Family Nurse Practitioner program so that Family Nurse Practitioner students receive enhanced education in women's health and WHNP students are prepared to meet the holistic, primary care needs of patients across the lifespan in addition to caring for women with obstetric and urogenital health concerns. This article highlights the value of dual-certified Family Nurse Practitioners and WHNPs in the military health-care system. These Uniformed Services University alumni are uniquely prepared to provide comprehensive primary and specialty care for female warfighters across the lifecycle from stable, well-resourced duty stations to austere, operational settings or deployment platforms.
过去 50 年来，军中女性人数增加了两倍多，从 20 世纪 70 年代的 5%增加到 2023 年的 17%，这使得她们成为全球卫生参与和军事行动的重要力量。医护人员的能力和信心是服务地点和岗位上持续提供女性预防、妇科和生殖服务的障碍。国防卫生局建议将服务标准化，并改善每个护理点为女性提供服务的范围和可用性。然而，与这些建议直接冲突的是国会要求减少医疗部队，这就需要具备广泛技能的临床医生，包括为女性提供全面护理，以保持医疗运作。高级执业注册护士，如家庭和妇女健康执业护士，是填补军队医疗保健团队这一空白的关键资产。应美国空军的要求，统一服务大学护理研究生院于 2014 年开始开设妇女健康执业护士 (WHNP) 课程。WHNP 课程是在现有的家庭执业护士课程基础上增加的，以便家庭执业护士的学生在妇女健康方面接受强化教育，WHNP 的学生除了照顾有产科和泌尿生殖健康问题的女性外，还能满足全生命周期患者的整体、初级护理需求。本文强调了在军队医疗保健系统中，双重认证的家庭执业护士和 WHNP 的价值。这些统一服务大学的校友具备独特的能力，可以为女性战斗人员提供全面的初级和专科护理，涵盖从稳定、资源充足的岗位到艰苦、作战环境或部署平台的整个生命周期。
