Jaime B. Parent - Moving Past Ptsd: Consciousness, Understanding, and Appreciation for Military Veterans and Their Families

T he author would like to acknowledge the following for their help with this book:

From the Road Home Program: Mark Pollack, MD, Niranjan Karnik, MD, PhD, Michael Brennan, MD, Chris Miller, Will Beiersdorf, Tanya Friese, DNP, RN, CNL, Tanjilisa Williams, and Gold Star Mom Modie Lavin

From Rush University Medical Center: Lac Tran and Bobby Clapp

From the Department of Veterans Affairs, North Chicago, IL: Demetrice Barnes

From the Office of the 7th Congressional District (IL), the Honorable Congressman Danny K. Davis, Assistants Josie Ware and Ira Cohen

From Epic Systems: CEO Judy Faulkner, Liz Sugden and Katie OBrien

From the Information Technology industry leaders supporting the EN-Abled Veteran internship training: Cisco, Citrix, Dell, EMC2, Epic Systems, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi Data Systems, Lexmark, Microsoft, NetApp, Trend Micro, and VMware

From the staff at the Rush University Medical Center Information Technology Department: Kimberly Jackson, Dwaine Goings, Abdelkrim Belkhos, Marlene Bailey, Tommy Bankhead, Trevor Stone, Terri Ibanez, Juan Duran, Ahmad Hasan, Debra Ingram, and honorary veteran Andy Bowe

For perspectives on spousal support for veterans: Janet Vasquez

From the LGBTQ veteran community: Rabbah Rona Matlow, Rebecca Solen

From the CAPTAIN James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center Department of Psychiatry: Corinne Belsky, MD

From Cone Health System: Robert Smith (EN-Abled Veteran template)

From CBS2 Chicago: Anchorman Rob Johnson

From WCPT860 radio: Thank you for your service program with Antonio Correa

From Abbe Lyle Photography: Abbe Lyle

From the Blackberry Caf: The Reverend Lon Thompson, James Martin, CMD, USN, (retired), Frank Bunn, CMD, USN (retired) and Sherry Lipe

From the WNBA: The Chicago Sky

From Rowman and Littlefield: Editors Christine Fahey and Kathryn Knigge

From Brookes Publishing: Proposal editor Liz Gildea

And most importantly, these successful interns from the from the EN-Abled Veteran Internship, some of whom have been working in the technology related field for over 4 years: Sean DSauveterre, Keith Garcia, Keith Gonzalez, Andre Hall, Andre Hampton, Bogumila Kenny, Joseph Kline, Richard Manu, Ken Marion, Willie Mayers, Matthew McCoy, Peter Meyer, Liz Michalski, Darueshi (Dart) Moseberry, Robert Neal III, Olatunbosun (Tobi) Olatunji, Ryan Russell, Sid Stein, Cassandra Taylor, Mark Truitt, Ivan Vasquez, and James Wigfall.

O ur American military is the best in the world. Extensive training, sophisticated technology, strong work ethic, and patriotism make veterans ideal candidates for the job market. Strong loyalty and devotion to service differentiates veterans from their civilian counterparts, particularly with millennials and Gen Xers. So much responsibility is given to young military members that cannot compare with any other type of occupational training.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer and information technology occupations [are] projected to grow 13 percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all occupations. These occupations are projected to add about 557,100 new jobs. Demand for these workers will stem from greater emphasis on cloud computing, the collection and storage of big data, and information security. The median annual wage for computer and information technology occupations was $84,580 in May 2017, which was higher than the median annual wage for all occupations of $37,690.

Military experience produces individuals with experiences advanced beyond their chronologic ages. With the right temperament and environment, the military veteran can be a long-term, loyal employee with a strong sense of purpose and the ability to help any organization excel. The following is a short list of skills and characters that can be an asset to any work center.

Leadership training: The military trains people to lead by example and accept and discharge responsibility for themselves and those who report to them. Military people take care of their own and bring this philosophy to the work center. Advance leadership opportunities are given to military personnel at a young age, often with other responsibilities that may include financial and project management.

Ability to work with multidiscipline teams and people: Essential to the military experience is the ability to work as a leader and a member of a team. Lives depend upon building these strong relationships. The military person has experience with diversity and working with all different types of people. Another example of where such experience is taught and learned at a young age.

Ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines: One definite characteristic of military service is that service members must perform. They must do their job, do it right the first time, and do it in a timely manner. They are continuously setting priorities, meeting schedules, and accomplishing their missions. Pressure and stress are built into this, but service members are taught how to deal with all these factors in a positive and effective manner.

Planning and organization: Most military operations require thorough planning, be it strategic or operational. Military personnel planning includes careful consideration of strengths, objectives, and the management of resources, schedules, and logistics. Reassessment is ongoing. Organization, evaluation, and adjustment are continuously being assessed. The ability to participate, direct, or establish systematic planning is highly valued in business.

Self-discipline: In any large organization, and especially the military, there must be rules and structure to avoid chaos and internal breakdown. Individuals in the service have learned and followed rules every day in their working environment. While in this environment, they have also learned loyalty to their units and their leaders. Companies always value employees who will be company players and team members who follow the rules of the organization.

Character: All individuals in the service have learned to be flexible and adaptable to meet the constantly changing needs of any situation and mission. Last minute changes are not uncommon in any military or civilian working environment. Also, based on their military background, veterans are able to adapt quickly to physical and safety demands.

Self-direction: Many service members understand difficult and often complex issues and solve these issues or problems on the spot without step-by-step guidance from above.

Educated: All military soldiers have at least a GED and the majority of them have high school diplomas. Many have attended college to further their education.

Initiative: Many military personnel have the ability to originate a plan of action or task to answer and solve many unusual problems regarding supplies, logistics, resources, and transportation. They are able to work well in ambiguous situations.

Work habits: People in the military are recognized for completing their missions in a timely fashion and in an effective, efficient manner. These work habits are a definite result of social maturity, integrity, determination, and self-confidence.

The EN-Abled Veteran Internship provides the necessary online and onthe-job training, resume support, and job interview skills to create a market ready professional prepared to begin a successful career in healthcare information technology.

Objectives

Recognizing the needs and value of returning military veterans, the EN-Abled Veteran Internship offers the following objectives:

Develop skills to obtain a career in health IT with an industry standard certification in one or more applications (Epic, Microsoft, Cisco, to name a few).