title: Memories of three wars: a nurse's story.
abstract: This is the personal story of a civilian critical care nurse who has worked for several decades with war casualties. It begins with her memories of the Vietnam era and her reflections on that war. It then describes how the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, prepared for the Desert Storm War and continues through the current war in Iraq. The article provides a glimpse of a long and meaningful nursing career and expresses the joy and satisfaction of caring for the wounded warriors of today's conflict.
authors.affiliation: National Naval Medical Center, 8901 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20889, USA. Loretta.Aiken@med.navy.mil
authors.forename: Loretta J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Aiken
mesh_terms: D047830:Gulf War; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006772:Hospitals, Military / Q000266:history; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000266:history; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008396:Maryland; D008888:Military Nursing / Q000266:history*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000266:history*; D047829:Vietnam Conflict