Military to Civilian Reintegration

The latest ANS featured article is titled “Toward a System Theory of Stress, Resilience, and Reintegration” authored by Anna G. Etchin, PhD, RN; Jennifer R. Fonda, PhD; Regina E. McGlinchey, PhD; and Elizabeth P. Howard, PhD, RN, ACNP, ANP-BC, FAAN. In this article the authors address the need for a theoretical sturcture to understand and interpret complex phenomena.  Here is a message from Dr. Etchin about this work, along with  a link to her “Prezi” presentation that details the elements of this work.

Anna Etchin

In my Prezi.com presentation, my co-authors and I present our rationale for developing the System Theory of Stress, Resilience, and Reintegration, created with integrated concepts from Neuman’s Systems Model and the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping. Military to civilian reintegration, or the return to one’s civilian roles, is complex and demands a holistic perspective. Much like any medical or psychiatric diagnosis, considering other possible influencing aspects of one’s health is key to optimizing patient outcomes. With the help of simple metaphors, we demonstrated the abstract components of this theory, which we then applied to a research study (not presented in this paper).

As a nurse working with veterans for nearly a decade, I’ve seen the direct effects of successful and challenging reintegration experiences. These effects can spill into other areas of veterans’ lives, such as relationships, work stability, etc. By adopting a holistic lens, nurses can better facilitate veterans’ returns to their new normalcy.