FEATURES OF NURSES' WORK IN THE AREA OF COMBAT ACTIONS

Abstract

Providing every victim with adequate medical care increases the chances of survival and recovery of functions throughout the medical care process, which makes it urgent to analyze the difficulty of fulfilling the nursing responsibilities in the combat area.

The aim of the study – to analyze the specific features of nurses' work in the combat area and to formulate recommendations on how to improve educational training programs for nurses.

Materials and Methods. On the basis of the Military Medical Service in the Transcarpathian region, the questionnaires of the nurses who served in the antiterrorist operation area during 2015–2017 were analyzed. The main question for the respondents was to briefly describe the difficulties in fulfilling the responsibilities assigned to nurses.

Results. Analyzing the responses of nurses performing their professional duties in the combat zone, the main difficulties of their work in the face of direct and indirect threat were formulated: insufficient knowledge of the principles of Tactical Combat Casualty Care; distribution of casualties during evacuation in the context of tactical emergency medical care; a diverse population of victims, including not only servicemen but also civilians, including pediatric and geriatric age groups; the need for psychological assistance to servicemen and civilians in the combat zone; insufficient experience of tactical evacuation.

Conclusions. In order to optimize nurses' professional knowledge in this areas, it is recommended to include the educational components of Tactical Medicine and Emergency Psychological Assistance in nursing educational programs.