U.S. Army nurses' reintegration and homecoming experiences after Iraq and Afghanistan

The aim of this study was to understand U.S. Army nurses' reintegration and homecoming experiences after deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Employing existential phenomenology and purposive sampling, 22 U.S. Army active duty nurses were recruited from two military posts and participated in single digitally recorded interviews.

Five themes emerged: (1) aspects of command support were articulated as "No one cares"; (2) fulfilling requirements for attendance at pre/postdeployment briefings were described as merely "check the blocks"; (3) readjustments from focusing strictly on duty requirements versus multitasking, such as family responsibilities and daily living, led to the "Stress of being home"; (4) nurses stated "They don't understand" when referring to anyone without deployment experience (family, friends, other soldiers); and (5) when referencing deployment experiences, nurses emphasized that, "It just changes you."

Nurses in this study felt that the current reintegration process was not meeting their needs for a smoother homecoming; new or improved interventions to assist redeploying nurses with the transition to a noncombat environment would be beneficial. Educational programs to help nursing supervisors provide optimal leadership support through all phases of deployment are needed.