Harnessing the Qualities That Create Healthcare Heroes
Program support Military Members in Quest to Become Nurses
It was early in his nursing career, and his deployments to war zones in Iraq were still fresh in his mind. Angelo DeFeo was caring for a fellow veteran back home in Philadelphia when the patient in the room next door suffered cardiac arrest and the rapid response team went into action.
The noise, the commotion, the lights, the flurry of activity, sent his patient into an acute episode of PTSD.
“He began exhibiting symptoms of severe anxiety, reliving traumatic events he experienced in Iraq,” DeFeo remembers. “I moved him into a quiet area and stayed with him. Though there wasn’t much for me to say, I just listened to his story and provided confirmation that he was supported and that I understood what he was going through.”
It’s that kind of knowledge, empathy, and life experience that makes a great nurse, says Marie Ann Marino, EdD, dean of the Jefferson College of Nursing.
“Students who have served, or are currently serving, add strength and value to the field,” Marino says. “They’re used to crisis management and problem solving, so they’re very resilient; they can handle high-pressure situations and changing demands; they’re comfortable with time-sensitive decisions; they are able to lead as well as collaborate; and they have high cultural competence.”
When Marino took the helm of the Jefferson College of Nursing as dean in 2018, she decided to put an emphasis on recognizing its veteran and service-connected students. Last year, to help existing military students, and to draw more into the program, she applied for a grant from the Independence Blue Cross Foundation (IBX) to establish the Service Scholars Program.
The program is designed to provide supplemental funding to bridge the gap between Veteran’s Administration-provided benefits of the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program, a national plan that helps with tuition costs that exceed the maximum Post-9/11 GI Bill reimbursement.
In March 2024 the college was notified it received the $80,000 grant. It will help students like DeFeo, a former U.S. Army staff sergeant, who joined the military right out of high school.
“I really had no idea or direction at that time in my life,” he says, noting that enlisting gave him the time to figure out what he wanted to do, while at the same time making him eligible for the GI Bill to help pay toward any future college costs.
He joined in 1998 as electronic warfare technician, but soon transferred to a position as a medical specialist and medic. He had found his calling.
After serving as a medic with the infantry for a year, he reclassified to flight medic, where he stayed for the remainder of his enlisted time. During that period, he was deployed overseas multiple times, including two tours in Iraq.
“It provided me with the skills and passion to continue in that profession,” he says.
After leaving the military in 2006, he earned his RN at Community College of Philadelphia, then went on for a BSN at Jefferson in 2010.
“I knew that I wanted to get my BSN quickly after I graduated (with the RN) and Jefferson was the first program that actually allowed me to apply prior to graduation and prior to having my license. When I thought about going back for my MSN, Jefferson was my first choice.”
DeFeo, who currently works in the trauma ICU at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, completed the MSN in May 2024. He credits his military service for making him a better nurse, equipping him with the ability to handle the fast-paced nature and challenges of the job, as well as giving him the empathy to provide compassionate care.
Jefferson College of Nursing Steps up for Veterans
For Marino, putting a focus on students with a military background came as second nature to her as a dean, a former Nurse Corps Officer in the Navy Reserve, and the mother of a child who recently served as an officer in the U.S. Army.
Her first initiative at the school was in 2019 with a Veteran’s Day program that featured Leashes of Valor, an organization that pairs service dogs with veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Through that program, Jefferson welcomed Maggie, a yellow Labrador retriever that now serves as a facility dog, working with students, faculty, and staff across the Jefferson enterprise.
It was during that time that a personal experience shed even more light on the need for support for service-connected students and veterans.
Her son Thomas, a U.S. Army captain, was virtually working on his Jefferson MBA during his deployment. He ran into a series of technical glitches, but the university was eventually able to provide the help he needed, making it easier for him to finish his studies.
From there, Marino determined that a program to help the students transition into college life and beyond would be a priority, and that the support would have to go beyond just financial assistance.
“There’s also academic, emotional, and mental health support, campus and community-wide resources to make their transition into academic life and post-graduation life. These are a lot of transitions for an individual to go through, so we want to be there every step of the way, connecting them hand in glove with each other,” she says.
The program itself includes a peer support network to help students with service backgrounds connect with each other and with mentors, as well as crossover work with other veteran-specific programs across the enterprise, such as PTSD counseling, physical and occupational therapy, and for traumatic brain injury (TBI) treatment.
Currently, there are eight students in the program. However, Marino says the College of Nursing is always looking to expand funding opportunities to service-connected students. Aside from the IBX grant, Jefferson awards the Robert and June Eyerly Scholarship to students who have served in the military or are descendants of veterans.
Marino herself knows the importance of tuition assistance, as she received financial aid while pursuing her doctorate at Teachers College — Columbia University. It was later in her service that she realized her love for teaching and how beneficial a nursing career could be for those with a military background.
“When you’re a nurse in the Navy Reserve, you work with corpsmen who are 18, 19 years old, and you’re teaching them how to take care of patients, how to start IVs, how to draw blood, how to dress wounds, how to provide lifesaving care,” she explains. “These individuals have skills that can be leveraged. They are going to not only care for (civilian) patients, but they’ll be better able to care for prior service patients. After all, who better to care for our nation's veterans than somebody who has served?”
For Ana Brunal, a staff sergeant in the United States Army Reserve, and current Jefferson nursing student, having a health professional understand the special needs of military personnel is important to getting appropriate care.
“I’ve gone to the doctor myself and realized that it’s hard for me to explain how I’m feeling, and hard for them to understand where I’m coming from,” she says, noting that being a veteran herself gives her unique insight into the needs of members of the military.
It also gives the skills needed to better care for civilians.
“We’re used to being thrown into unknown situations and scenario … we’re used to that fast-paced environment. We’re also used to working with people from all parts of the world. The Army is kind of like a melting pot of cultures, so we’re taught to understand their background, where they’re coming from.”
Like DeFeo, Brunal, 26, also enlisted upon graduating from high school and plans to “do the full 20.”
She chose nursing after serving as an EMT for three years and seeing how the nurses worked, how they interacted with patients, how the one-on-one, hands-on care impacted the patients’ lives.
She already had a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and decided to move on to a BSN at Jefferson. She will graduate next year—a little later than she had originally planned, due to a one-year deployment to Iraq.
“I went into the program knowing I was going to have to take a break because of an upcoming deployment, but Jefferson set me up for success,” she says. The college administration worked with her to allow her to start the semester, then take up where she left off when she returned.
Easing the Return to Civilian Life—and Finding a Career
Kathy Gray, DNP, associate professor of the DNP Program and director of the Doctorate of Nursing Practice, Executive Leadership (DNP-EL) Program, conducts research that focuses on the particular needs and challenges of veterans, including mental health issues and homelessness.
The original objective was to increase the knowledge of veterans’ needs at both the college’s leadership level and in civilian healthcare providers. Now, an additional goal is to support the veteran student, too—a population that is growing.
Some of her research centers on the reintegration process of veterans post-deployment.
“Coming back to civilian life is a big change for them,” Gray says. It can be particularly difficult for women, who make up about 15 percent of the demographic.
“In the military they had important jobs, important roles,” she says. “But many enlisted right out of high school so they don’t have college degrees, don’t have opportunities when they come out. So, they may suffer from role identity, maybe depression or anxiety, until they find their niche in the civilian world.”
Service Scholar Program is one way to help fill that niche.
However, Brunal says a lot of veterans are hesitant to go back to school. Between navigating the military benefits available and finding programs, the process can be daunting.
“When you come out, you’re just thrown into the world without knowing what to do,” she says. “Jefferson has been super helpful with directing me in using my benefits.”
She advises her fellow veterans to just “go for it!”
“It’s your future,” she says. “Reach out to your schools. Reach out to your battle buddies because they’ve probably been through it. Take it one day at a time.”
DeFeo agrees, saying that finding support can be difficult, but it’s out there and the Service Scholars Program is a promising step along the way to reintegrating into civilian life.
“A lot of us had a rough time over there,” DeFeo says of serving in the Middle East. “It can be a very challenging time and I always feel for
the guys that come back and they’re kind of lost. These programs definitely help people get on their feet and center themselves to where they’re doing something productive and positive in their life.”
Marino admits that transitioning from the service to civilian life can be hard, but the Service Scholars Program is in place at Jefferson to help.
“Anything that we can do to make that transition easier is something I believe that we owe to this group of incredible individuals.”
To support the Service Scholars Program, visit Jefferson.edu/givejcn