Jonas Veterans Scholar Featured in PBS Need to Know “AMERICAN VOICES”Segment
NEW YORK, June 20, 2012—On Friday, June 22nd, PBS’s award-winning TV- and web- newsmagazine Need to Know will feature commentary on Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program Scholar Navy Lieutenant Commander (CDR) Pamela Herbig-Wall, a psychiatric nurse set to deploy with the Marines to the Middle East. The segment will examine the importance of nursing to improving veterans’ healthcare.
This week’s Need to Know, anchored by Scott Simon, will examine how long-term care for veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan is placing a growing strain on America’s health care providers. CDR Herbig-Wall will discuss the increasingly prominent role nurses play in the treatment of wounded vets and in the education of their spouses.
“Our veterans are facing tremendous health challenges that we are only beginning to understand on a biological level,” said CDR Herbig-Wall. “Rates of PTSD and traumatic brain injuries are staggeringly high for today’s veterans, and I am honored to help educate the public about the critical role of nurses in addressing these issues.”
CDR Herbig-Wall is pursuing a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania with funding from the Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program. Established in 2011 by the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, the program aims to improve the health of veterans, notably those of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, by supporting doctoral-level nursing candidates who are committed to advancing veterans health care, from patient care and education to policy and administration. It will support nearly 60 scholars across the nation by the fall.
An active duty servicemember since 1996, CDR Herbig-Wall serves as Program Director and Assistant Professor in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. She also practices at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, where she specializes in treatement for trauma related disorders.
“Caring for our veterans is one of the country’s highest priorities today – and there are many ways we can and should help these heroes,” said Darlene Curley, Executive Director of the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence. “But before we can assist with education, jobs and other needs, we have to get them healthy and back on their feet. Nurses are and will continue to be on the frontlines of this critical effort.”
Need to Know airs in New York every Friday from 8:30-9:00 p.m. on Channel 13. Please visit http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/schedule/ for local station air times. Need to Know can also be accessed through On-Demand television, social networks and streaming video on the Need to Know website.
About the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence
Founded in 2006, the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence is dedicated to improving healthcare by advancing nursing scholarship, leadership and innovation. Its two main programs are the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholar Program, which aims to address the dire shortage of nursing faculty by preparing nurses with doctoral degrees to step into this critical role, and the Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program, which seeks to improve the health of veterans by supporting doctoral-level nursing candidates committed to advancing veterans healthcare. These programs currently support more than 250 doctoral scholars nationwide.