U.S. Army Nursing Readiness: A Field Administration of the Readiness Estimate and Deployability Index (READI) in the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command (NARMC)

Abstract

The purpose of this observational study was to use the Readiness Estimate and Deployability Index (READI) to estimate, compare and describe the states of deployment readiness in active and reserve component Army Nurse Corps (ANC) officers affiliated with the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command (NARMC). Army Nurses must be ready to provide nursing care indeployed environments that are characterized by austere and dangerous conditions, high patient variability, and limited technology. The READI is a 105-item survey that measures self-report of cognition, affect, perception of motor skills and physical functioning related to six dimensions of nursing readiness: clinical nursing competency, operational competency, survival skills, personal and psychological readiness, leadership and administrative support, and group integration and identification. In this study, a random sample of active (n = 188) Army Nurses who were assigned to the NARMC or reserve (n = 56) Army Nurses who are assigned to units that deploy to NARMC medical treatment facilities (MTFs) voluntarily responded to a mail administration of the READI. Comparative results of scaled and re-scaled items were depicted on specially developed and innovative graphic panoramic displays (GPDs) following the quantitative graphic principles outlined by Professor Edward Tufte of Yale University. Results revealed that active nurses reported slightly higher levels than reserve nurses in clinical nursing competencies, and operational competency, and significantly greater competency in survival skills. This study provides further evidence of the utility of depicting READI results in GPD format to identify training opportunities for both active duty and reserve component ANC officers. Future administrations of the READI are needed to measure nurse readiness before, during and after deployment, and in different

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 22, 2001
Accession Number
ADA420981

Entities

People

  • Peter H. Murdock

Organizations

  • Academy of Health Sciences

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Air Force
  • Burns
  • Deployment
  • Health Services
  • Identification
  • Information Science
  • Institutional Review Board
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Medicine
  • Military Operations
  • Patient Care
  • Statistics
  • Surveys
  • Therapy
  • Training
  • Wounds And Injuries

Readers

  • Medical or Health Care Field.
  • Military Mobilization and Reserve Forces Studies.
  • Psychometric Testing or Psychological Assessment.