“I Serve 2”: Meeting the needs of military children in civilian practice

The American Academy of Nursing launched the “Have You Ever Served in the Military?” campaign in 2013 in conjunction with the Joining Forces campaign spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. The “Have You Ever Served in the Military?” campaign provides guidance and resources for nurses outside the Military Health System and Veterans Health Administration where upwards of 80% of veterans receive care. However, most military personnel do not serve alone. More than half of the 2.2 million active duty, National Guard, and Reserve service members currently serving in the armed forces have families and many military children experience stress and anxiety secondary to parental military service. Although strides have been made to improve identification and treatment of the visible and invisible wounds of war for service members, little to no information exists regarding the impact parental service has on the physical, psychological, and behavioral health of military children. In addition, there is no mechanism in place to identify military children in civilian practice nor resources providing evidence-based best practices when caring for these children.