Nursing’s Role in Preventing and Managing Back Pain in Military Members: Proceedings of the First Back Pain Summit

Abstract

ABSTRACT This is a review of the proceedings of the first Military Nursing Back Pain Summit focusing on nursing’s role in preventing and managing back pain. The purpose of the summit was to present the state of the science in back pain and to identify key gaps in research, policy, education, and treatment that could be undertaken by military nurses, nurse leaders, nurse practitioners, and nurse scientists. Several key points were highlighted during the summit: (1) back pain is multifactorial and preventable; (2) military service members have unique risk factors for developing back pain; (3) both acute and chronic back pain impact readiness and sustaining readiness is the primary mission of military medicine; (4) back pain is most effectively managed with multiple treatment approaches; (5) military culture must pivot away from an attitude of ignoring persistent pain or “toughing it out” to prevent acute back pain from becoming chronic; (6) integrating military nurses within operational units will be important for effective prevention, education, screening, and treatment within dispersed Multi-Domain Operations; and (7) early self-management is an important area for nursing research and intervention to empower service members to maintain and sustain their back health. The various presentations and panels from the meeting are summarized.