The Uniformed Services University (USU) Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing (GSN) has revived its clinical rotation in American Samoa.
This reopens a vital training ground for future advanced practice military healthcare providers. After a suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, students from the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) programs are once again working in the territory.
The program sends students to America Samoa for four-week rotations. It is designed to bridge the gap between classroom theory and the realities of patient care, preparing officers to manage diverse patient populations in environments where standard resources may not be readily available.
In February, Army Capt. Jessica Little from the PMHNP program and Navy Lt. Hannah Tumae from the FNP program deployed to the island to collaborate with the Department of Health. While Tumae provided primary care services in community clinics, Little focused on behavioral health evaluations.
Little found that social determinants of health heavily influenced her patients in these remote settings. One interaction, in particular, stood out to her: a patient could not afford their own medication because their son’s mental health needs were more urgent. To address these gaps, Little partnered with local health leadership to improve health education. She implemented integrated mental health screenings into primary care and prenatal clinics, demonstrating that psychotherapy could often provide better outcomes than reliance on medication alone.
USU plans to continue the clinical rotation annually and may add additional rotations throughout the year. The university is also working to address specific public health needs in American Samoa, such as RSV in infants and information on infectious disease outbreaks. As part of this exchange, faculty and students have connected with the local nursing school to learn about their educational needs and have offered to provide instructional courses.
