USNH GTMO Nurses Get Certified in Trauma Nursing

By Stacey Byington, U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (NNS) -- Nurses from U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay (USNH GTMO) completed a the three-day Trauma Nursing Core Course (TNCC) March 29, offered for the first time at GTMO.

Participating in the course were Capt. Kristen Atterbury, Cmdr. Carol Hurley, Lt. Cmdr. Herman Jenkins, Lt. Marisol Armora, and Lt. Eric Dunbar. Training to become certified instructors were Lt. Erica Arnold and Lt j.g. Terry Francis.

Documented data has revealed that traumatic injury is the leading cause of death in people under the age of 45. The TNCC is designed to help nurses, essential to a trauma team, use a systematic and standardized approach to care for an injured patient. The course director was Cmdr. Linda Nash, USNH GTMO Emergency Room department head, who has been a trauma nursing instructor for many years, and helped bring the course to GTMO.

"TNCC is an important course, promoting mission readiness for all levels of military nurses," said Nash. "It gives nurses a foundation in the assessment and care of trauma patients, across the age span (neonate to geriatrics). Nurses in all branches of the military are required to have this course as an introduction to trauma care prior to deployments."

The TNCC was developed by members of the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) as a means of identifying a standardized body of trauma nursing knowledge.

Nash, a 23-year Navy veteran, and a nurse for 33 years, has been nationally certified through the ENA in emergency nursing since 1980, and has worked in emergency departments and operational settings almost her entire career, including a two-year assignment with Fleet Surgical Team 6, and a three-year tour as the senior nurse on USNS Comfort. She became a TNCC director in 2000.

"TNCC is important to GTMO because it is an isolated forward deployed duty station," added Nash. "It is surrounded by territories and countries that have high

vulnerability assessments for natural disasters. We only have to look at what happened in Haiti during its earthquake. Earthquakes, mud slides, flooding and hurricanes are prevalent in the SOUTHCOM region of operations. In the event of another natural disaster in the Caribbean region, personnel from USNH GTMO would immediately be called to action."

"Navy nurses are assignable and deployable worldwide , and must maintain operational readiness," said Atterbury, USNH GTMO's director of Nursing Services. "We are fortunate to have a TNCC program here which helps prepare our nurses to respond to a variety of traumatic medical situations."

The course included instruction on initial assessment, shock, brain and cranial trauma, burn traumas, and injuries to other parts of the body. Half of the training was straight classroom going through the various sections of the training manual. The second half of the course was devoted to practical skill stations, where the participants were provided various trauma situations, and had to demonstrate identified skill requirements.

The core competencies that are universal to any trauma are referred to the A-B-Cs of trauma care: Airway with c-spine, Breathing, Circulation, Disability (neuro), Expose/Environment, Full set of vitals, Five interventions, Family presence, Give comfort, History (head-to-toe), and Inspect the back.

Arnold, one of the instructor candidates, said she took the opportunity to train as one of the course instructors because it would help expand the course to other nurses assigned to the hospital in GTMO.

"The course demonstrates a systematic approach to trauma nursing care that every nurse can apply," said Arnold. "My instructor certification ensures more nurses will be able to complete their [trauma] certification leading to a maintained state of readiness, and prepare them for that time when a trauma patient comes through our doors."

"The class was a great review and the instructors were very enthusiastic," said Hurley. "It is very important that our nurses are trained in basic trauma response because of situations they may have to respond to in this isolated location."