Dr. Carol Reineck’s READI assessments for U.S. military and civilian nurses are being translated into other languages. They will help nurses from other countries prepare to deliver care under austere conditions.
Printer Friendly Format

With the continuing threats of war, natural disasters and terrorist attacks, military and civilian nurses are assessing their readiness to provide care under austere and stressful conditions using a tool developed by a faculty member from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Carol Reineck, Ph.D., R.N., chair of the Department of Acute Nursing Care, presented the latest developments regarding the Readiness Estimate and Deployability Index (READI) Nov. 10 at the 114th Annual Meeting of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States held in San Antonio.

She gave the poster presentation on behalf of master’s degree graduate Maj. Elba Villacorta, a perioperative nurse who is deployed to Iraq. Dr. Reineck mentored Maj. Villacorta for a master’s degree project involving the READI.

READI assesses six areas of competence
READI is a survey designed to help nurses examine their ability to provide care under difficult circumstances. The tool assesses six areas of competence, including clinical skills; operational competency; survival skills; physical, mental and personal readiness; leadership skills; and teamwork.

“The surveys help military commanders, nurse leaders and hospital administrators better plan training sessions so their staffs are really prepared,” Dr. Reineck said. “It also helps nurses take a good look at their competencies to see how well they are prepared personally to deal with wartime nursing or the stress of providing care following a natural disaster when clean water, high-tech equipment and electricity might not be available."

Preparing foreign nurses
The surveys are being translated into several other languages, so nurses from other countries can become better prepared, Dr. Reineck said.

Assessment began as deployment preparation tool in mid-1990’s
Dr. Reineck retired in 2001 as chief nurse executive of the U.S. Army Medical Command worldwide before joining the Health Science Center faculty. She began researching the need for a readiness preparation tool during the 1990s.

“Army nurses were increasingly being deployed for temporary duty in overseas locations due to the rise of low-intensity conflicts and civil wars. My position at that time was branch proponent (advocate) for the Army Nurse Corps. In that role I managed a wide variety of issues for the chief of the Army Nurse Corps. The question came up, ‘What does it really mean to be ready to deploy?’ We knew it meant more than having a current will, immunizations and eyeglass inserts for our gas masks. We had some indicators of readiness, but they were not richly descriptive of readiness in a more fundamental, practical way,” Dr. Reineck explained.

Adapted for other military branches
She developed the READI to help Army nurses prepare for deployment, using focus groups of experienced military nurses. Later, she mentored Lt. Col. Theresa L. Dremsa for her doctoral dissertation to adapt the survey for the Air Force (READI Revised for Air Force nurses), and Lt. Cmdr. Lonnie S. Hosea, whose master’s thesis became the READI for Navy personnel.

9/11 spurs civilian assessment of readiness
Shortly after Dr. Reineck joined the Health Science Center, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks brought civilian readiness to the forefront and she adapted the READI again, producing the Civilian READIness survey. All four versions of the assessment are available on the Health Science Center Web page: http://nursing.uthscsa.edu/READI/splash.html, where she continues to welcome suggestions for improvement and adaptation.

Maj. Elba Villacorta (center) studied enhancements to the READI as her master’s thesis. She is pictured with nursing faculty members Dr. Brenda Jackson (left) and Dr. Mickey Parsons (right) after she received the Women’s Faculty Association Leadership Award for the School of Nursing in May.

Presentation addresses graduated scoring for READI
Regarding the poster presentation to federal military personnel on Nov. 10, Dr. Reineck said, “Maj. Villacorta conceived and tested a graduated scoring system that bases the READI items on whether they are critical, important or beneficial,” Dr. Reineck said. “This will further help commanders and civilian health care leadership assess the importance and type of training they need to provide so their nurses are better prepared. She added, “We look forward to publishing the results of our scoring system development in the near future when Maj. Villacorta returns.” The READI is also being used by the reserve components for pre- and post-assessment in conjunction with simulation, and has been adapted for use by U.S. Air Force perioperative nurses and certified registered nurse anesthetists.

READI being translated into foreign languages
Meanwhile, nursing leaders from other countries have taken an interest in the READI. “In the last six months, I’ve received requests to give my permission for others to translate the READI into Korean, Chinese and Swedish,” Dr. Reineck said. The Korean READI has been tested and results were just presented by a Korean nurse at a professional conference in South Korea.

Providing scientific approach for the future
“The global reach is a surprise I did not imagine,” she said, “but now I realize that everything we do needs to help not only those of us living today, but those who will be performing nursing care in austere environments, all over the world, and beyond our lifetime. We are building the world for those we don't even know, but who will benefit from our science and dedication to humanity.”