VETS2BSN PROJECT VISITS THE USNS MERCY

In May our Vets2BSN Project students, faculty and staff were treated to a wonderful tour of the USNS Mercy by our gracious hosts, LTJGs Leland Comer and Anthony Waite. These U.S. Navy Nurse Corps officers are both mentors for our Military Student Nurse Mentoring Organization (MSNMO) which matches currently enrolled Vets2BSN Project BSN students with an active duty or civilian nurse mentor throughout his or her program. Mentors serve as a resource to the student checking in on a weekly basis on classes, provide additional content knowledge, identify areas for improvement and growth, and help with networking and career development.

The USNS Mercy is essentially the U.S. Navy’s floating hospital ship. It was originally built as an oil tanker in 1976 and was later converted to a hospital ship in 1984. Its primary mission is to provide rapid, flexible, and mobile acute medical and surgical services to support Marine Corps Air/Ground Task Forces deployed ashore, Army and Air Force units deployed ashore, and naval amphibious task forces and battle forces afloat. Its secondary mission is to provide mobile surgical hospital service for use by appropriate U.S. Government agencies in Humanitarian Civic Assistance (HCA), disaster or humanitarian relief or limited humanitarian care incident to these missions or peacetime military operations.

Students were treated to a full tour of the ship which included:

Intensive care wards: 80 beds
Recovery wards: 20 beds
Intermediate care wards: 280 beds
Light care wards: 120 beds
Limited care wards: 500 beds
Operating Rooms: 12
Casualty reception
Radiological services including CT
Main laboratory plus satellite lab
Central sterile receiving
Medical supply/pharmacy
Physical therapy and burn care
Intensive Care Unit
Dental services
Optometry/lens lab
Morgue
Laundry
Burn Treatment
Angiography
Blood Bank
Oxygen producing plants

The USNS Mercy went underway in May to participate in Pacific Partnership 2016, an ongoing series of Disaster Preparedness missions. Focusing on local Subject Matter Expert Exchanges, Pacific Partnership 16 continues to "Prepare in Calm to Respond in Crisis". Countries that have invited Mercy include Timor Leste, Malaysia, Indonesia, Republic of the Philippines and Vietnam.

Thank you again to LTJGs Comer and Waite for this wonderful opportunity to support our Vets2BSN Project students. Click on the photos below to enlarge the photos for viewing.

View of the flight deck

Operating room

Dockside view

Tour sign

(story submitted by Dr. Paul Tontz, Academic Counselor, Vets2BSN Project)

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