Abstract

There is recognized shortage of nurses in the United States which includes a lack of baccalaureate prepared nurses and lack of workforce diversity related to gender. Military veterans could be a recruitment source for the problems currently facing the nursing profession. However, both student veterans and male nursing students have experienced feelings of isolation, lower grade point averages, and higher rates of attrition. A scoping review of the literature revealed a lack of nursing education research literature related to veterans as nursing students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of male combat veterans in pre-licensure baccalaureate degree nursing programs. The research question was, "What is the lived experience of male combat nurses in baccalaureate degree nursing programs?" An interpretive phenomenology approach guided by van Manen (1990, 2014) was used to explore this phenomenon. Data were collected using written lived-experience descriptions (n=2), photo-elicitation (n=2), and unstructured interviews (n=7). Results illuminated the essential nature of the phenomenon as focused on the objective. Included within this phenomenon were four themes that arose from participants' language. These themes were tools of the trade, identity, turbulent waters, and fuel. Participants applied the strengths gained through military service and combat to remain focused on maintaining focus and meeting their individual objectives. Findings from this study may help provide better knowledge and understanding of male combat veterans for nurse educators so that individualized educational strategies can assist the veterans to be successful in nursing school.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 10637831; ProQuest document ID: 2001240099. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Kelly L. Dyar, EdD, RN, CNN, CNE, Assistant Professor/Director of Inquiry & Scholarship

Sigma Membership

Pi Nu

Lead Author Affiliation

University of West Georgia, Carrollton, Georgia, USA

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Phenomenology

Research Approach

Qualitative Research

Keywords:

Male Combat Veterans, Nursing Students, Nursing Education, Lived Experiences, Nursing Shortage

Advisor

Cynthia Brown

Second Advisor

Susan Welch

Third Advisor

Michelle Byrne

Degree

Doctoral-Other

Degree Grantor

University of West Georgia

Degree Year

2017

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2022-03-22

Full Text of Presentation

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