Nurse plays role in enhancing medical care for Afghan troops Published March 16, 2009 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, BILOXI, Miss. -- Lt. Col. Christine Taylor is proud of the role she played in enhancing the future of health care for Afghanistan's national army, police force and their families. Colonel Taylor, flight commander of the 81st Medical Operations Squadron family health care clinic, recently returned from more than six months in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She served as chief nurse for the Command Surgeon General Office under the Combined Security Transition Command, a U.S. Army-led organization located at Kabul's Camp Eggers. She left on her deployment in March 2008 following four weeks of pre-deployment combat skills training at Fort McCoy, Wisc. She returned in November. "I worked in a joint operational environment," she said. "I was deeply involved in helping rebuild health-care infrastructure programs and management reform for the Afghanistan National Security Forces' nation-building operations. "This country has suffered with three decades of warfare, so it was no surprise to me that nursing practice was substandard due to an array of reasons. However, I found their biggest challenges were lack of nursing education and staff development programs. So my highest priority was to focus on those areas. Fortunately, what made all the difference in standing up new initiatives was how the Afghans embraced my mentorship and help." The Afghanistan National Army (ANA) force structure consisted of about 245 nursing personnel, insufficient to care for 68,000 troops. "The current nursing force structure would be woefully inadequate as the Afghan army expands in the next two years to 120,000," she said. "To stimulate progress before this surge occurred, I stood up the first ANA advanced medical technician course. The primary goal of this program is to bridge the nursing gap by training noncommissioned officer medics to become highly-skilled functional nurses, the equivalent of licensed vocational nurses in the U.S. Ultimately, this one-year course could possibly produce enough AMTs to increase support staff by 60 percent." Colonel Taylor explained the curriculum offers a broad field of clinical nursing and leadership subjects to train medics also as future leaders. "After months of planning, the first class kicked off Oct. 12 with 38 students from various regions of Afghanistan," she continued. "Of the 38 students, three females were enrolled, which was a significant milestone based on Afghan cultural belief regarding women being members of the ANA military force." The colonel also organized the first ANA nursing symposium, held in conjunction with the ANA medical leadership conference. "Historically, this conference is primarily attended by senior leaders and physicians, so having each regional ANA chief nurse showcase their nursing processes and future goals to this audience were huge steps for ANA nurses." She added, "I worked very closely with the embedded transition team nurses located at forward operating bases. One initiative implemented to standardize training and nursing practice throughout the five regional FOBs was a nursing training module program. This made a significant impact on standardizing nursing care and training." She mentioned the command surgeon staff frequently deployed to FOBs with regional hospitals "in full battle gear" to ensure embedded transition team members had supplies and equipment they needed to support their mission as well as to perform staff assistance visits. In addition to medical duties, the colonel served as convoy commander in armed vehicles on more than 90 convoys, traveling routes potentially targeted by insurgents. Reflecting on her deployment, Colonel Taylor stated, "It was an absolutely wonderful experience! I am very privileged and honored to have been able to play a role in improving medical care in this nation. I was struck by the way the Afghan people embraced us; they were very appreciative of our presence." While deployed, Colonel Taylor pinned on her silver lieutenant colonel leafs, and before leaving the AOR, she received a NATO medal and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. She also found the relationships forged with members of the other U.S. military services extremely rewarding. "I was able to experience how different services uniquely contributed to the mission, yet we all worked together as one team," she pointed out. "In my opinion, that's what joint operations are all about. "I'd go back in a heartbeat -- I honestly wish I had had more time," she remarked. "The rewards far outweighed the challenges and I have certainly left a piece of my heart behind in Afghanistan. To have the opportunity to incorporate my nursing experience and skills to help rebuild a health-care system from the ashes of 30 years of warfare and to witness small victories of history unfold before my eyes are memories I will cherish forever." Colonel Taylor, a 15-year Air Force veteran, marks two years at Keesler in June. She departs the same month for Yokota Air Base, Japan, where she'll command the 374th Surgical Operations Support Squadron.