NOTICE: The project that is the subject of the report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for this report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.

The report, The Program for Research in Military Nursing: Progress and Future Direction, has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The Institute of Medicine was chartered in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to enlist distinguished members of the appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. In this, the Institute of Medicine acts under both the Academy’s 1863 congressional charter responsibility to be an adviser to the federal government and its own initiative in identifying issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

Support for this project was provided by the Department of Defense through the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Contract No. MDA905-95-C-0023. The opinions or conclusions expressed herein do not, however, necessarily reflect those of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences or the Department of Defense.

The published report and its companion volume Military Nursing Research: Bibliographies (which is available in electronic or printed form) are also available from:

Director, REA

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

4301 Jones Bridge Road

Bethesda, MD 20814

The serpent has been a symbol of long life, healing, and knowledge among almost all cultures and religions since the beginning of recorded history. The image adopted as a logotype by the Institute of Medicine is based on a relief carving from ancient Greece, now held by the Staatlichemuseen in Berlin.