There are thousands of nurses in the U.S. Air Force, but only 10 nurse scientists. It was 11 before UNLV nursing professor Jacqueline Killian retired this summer.

Retired Col. Jacqueline Killian spent 30 years as a military nurse before transitioning to full-time teaching. A self-proclaimed "tri-service girl" (her father served 23 years in the U.S. Navy while she served in both U.S. Army and Air Force Nurse Corps). Killian has spent her life not only studying human resiliency but living it as dual duties of healthcare and armed service life took precious time away from her family. But, she never lost sight of what was most important to her, and now she’s using her experience as a military nurse scientist to share her accumulated knowledge with UNLV students.

What’s it like being a nurse scientist in the Air Force?

As a military nurse scientist, we had to answer the questions posed by our leadership or address the gaps and knowledge that had been identified by the Department of Defense or any of the levels under which I worked. We didn’t always have the luxury of staying in one niche and only studying one area.

I was involved with a lot of different studies from very different areas. For example, I assisted with a genetics study, looking at genome sequencing and use of genetic testing results for personalized medicine in the military. This was a pilot study in collaboration with researchers from Brigham Women's University out of Harvard.

Another investigation assessed the role of military nurse practitioners when they transition into this advanced practice role of being more of a medical provider. We investigated what that looks like and what that experience is like during that first 18 months of transition.

I worked with a research team that recently completed a study on resilience of healthcare workers where we utilized a SMART (Stress Management and Resilience Training) intervention by Dr. Amit Sood from the Mayo Clinic. We were actually providing that training to healthcare providers and healthcare personnel at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Results of that study showed improved resilience and decreased stress following receipt of the intervention. 

Is it hard to explain to people what a nurse scientist is?

Yes. We're a very small, tight-knit community. In the Air Force it seems we're an unknown entity. I think what we bring to the scientific community is our unique perspective. As nurses, we're trained to be very holistic and to look at the individual, not only as the individual, but also as part of a larger system and assess how that system impacts the individual and how they impact the system. I think it's that perspective that allows us to do science differently than other scientists. 

What drew you to human resilience?

One question I have always wondered about is: Why do some people do well in the face of adversity and others don't? Why are some people resilient and others less resilient? As an educator, I always wondered, “Is there something we can teach people in order to foster or improve their resilience?

As an avid reader of positive psychology, I learned about the protective factors associated with resilience. My question then became, “Are there things we can show people they could practice in order to build their own resilience?” That is how I came to really look at what interventions are available that can help foster resilience.

As a military population, we face a lot of adversity that the average person doesn't face. I'm talking specifically about those that deploy around the globe doing different operational missions. In order for us to be ready as military members, our training is very stressful. How do we help people better deal with that and still have a good quality of life and make them not only better military members, but also help them to be better mothers, fathers, citizens, and friends?

Now in the civilian sector, in the midst of this protracted pandemic, where we're all perhaps feeling less resilient, I think the questions and the things I've studied and want to focus on are more relevant.

My dissertation focused on building resilience through the use of an intervention called laughter yoga, which focuses on the practice of using laughter exercises and belly breathing, diaphragmatic breathing. In yoga, they call this type of breath work Pranayana, and that's the yoga aspect of laughter yoga. It has to do with this type of breathing interspersed between laughter exercises, both of which activate the vagus nerve in the diaphragm that in turn helps to up-regulate the parasympathetic nervous system and basically down-regulates the sympathetic nervous system to help us better equilibrate our own physiology and in doing so, break that cycle of chronic stress.

Is it cheesy to say laughter is the best medicine?

That is actually the premise behind laughter yoga. It's so funny because this is a concept and practice that's been around for over 20 years, but it's never made it mainstream.

I think it's because we're too serious in our society. People don't see the beauty or the importance of really allowing ourselves to feel joy. I think the practice of laughter yoga allows you to be intentional about seeking and experiencing joy and doing something intentionally that is going to help you with your stress management and help you with your mood and state of mind. Results of my dissertation work revealed laughter yoga improved resilience scores and decreased perceived stress scores and had other good outcomes as well. My hope is that I'll be able to repeat this work at UNLV with a larger sample size.

What inspired you to become a nurse?

When I was in high school in Key West, Florida, I sought opportunities to volunteer. One of those was at our local community hospital. I spent volunteer hours as a candy striper; I would fill up water pitchers and pass out magazines, books, and basically assist the nursing staff in any way I could. They mostly utilized me as a translator because I spoke Spanish as I was born in Puerto Rico and learned to speak Spanish during the time I spent there with my Abuela. In Key West, there was a large Cuban population and some were non-English speakers. It was really in those exchanges translating for the staff, where I felt part of the care, and I felt the calling to study nursing.

Biggest lesson you've learned in your career?

One’s ability to communicate is perhaps the most important skill you can have, whether it's in advocating for your patient, communicating with other allied health professions in the care of that patient, communicating to your team mates, leadership, to your nurse manager or your hospital administrator about what is needed in order to appropriately provide the best quality of care you can to patients. I think communication skills are the key to unlocking so many doors. The earlier we can learn that and the earlier we can harness that power, I think the better off we are and the better off our patients are, and our team, too. Everybody benefits from open, honest, clear communication.

Outside of research, what are you most passionate about?

My family. That has a lot to do with my cultural upbringing, but also the fact that in my last three military assignments, I was geographically separated from my family. I would literally use up all of my military leave just coming to see them for a weekend. I would come almost every other month. I should have probably bought stock in the airline industry because I was stationed in other states, so I would fly back to see them.

Now I have grandchildren, so that is a new love and joy in my life that I anticipated and waited for and now that it's here, and I am able to live in the same city as my grandbabies, it's better than I could have imagined.

Do you have a go-to karaoke song?

Independence Day by Martin McBride and Our Lips Are Sealed by the Go-Go’s. Most of my family reunions and gatherings, we sing karaoke.

If you could give your younger self any piece of advice, what would it be?

Dare to dream big, and don't be afraid to work hard to make it a reality. I think sometimes we get in our own way. I've had great things happen in my life, but looking back, I worked really hard for those things. It didn't just happen. I'm not going to say that some people aren't lucky, but you can't count on luck. If you put in the effort and do the groundwork, things will come to fruition. 

Do you have any do-over moments from your life?

The hard thing about do-over moments is if you do something over and you have a different outcome as a result of it, you don't know where that's going to lead you. So, I would have to say no, I wouldn't do anything over. There have been things that were hard in my life that I wish were different, but those difficulties led to other things that ended up being pretty terrific.

First thing you did after retiring from the Air Force that one normally can't do while on active duty?

Choose what I would like to wear for work, select coordinating jewelry, paint my nails whatever color I liked, and wear my hair down. These might seem like simple things to most, but I wore a uniform every day for work for over 30 years and only wore jewelry and nail polish mandated by regulation as well as wore my hair up off my collar. Being able to express myself through my personal choice in wardrobe and accessories, being able to wear sparkly nail polish and having my hair down feels so free and empowering in an entirely different way.

A memorable patient experience.

It actually happened before I became a nurse. As a candy striper in high school, I was asked to translate for a young Spanish speaking couple that were in the hospital to have their baby. The couple did not speak English, and the hospital staff did not speak Spanish. They needed the mother to reposition herself due to difficulty the baby was experiencing. I was able to be the voice of the staff throughout the labor, delivery, and recovery care of both baby and mother. It was this experience that affirmed my decision to become a nurse. Over 35 years later, I would make this decision again, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Who would play you in a movie about your life?

I think the person that would play me in a movie about my life would be America Ferrera. It would have to be a musical since I love to sing. The title of this musical would probably be something along the lines of  "The Brave, The Bold and The Beautiful" or "Welcome to Jackieland."