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While service and operational records of the US armed forces have been previously investigated, personal communication records of military personnel have received less attention in archival scholarship. Specifically, we are concerned with the ways that changes in technology challenge the preservation of personal communications records. This issue is important because personal communication records of service members, both active and retired, can support military personnel and their families in managing the stress of deployment. Moreover, such records can help military families cope with grief when a service member dies. In this study, we address this gap by exploring the communication practices of US military personnel who served between 2005 and 2020. We focus on how military personnel communicated with their friends and family, the records that resulted from such communications, and the impacts of information technologies and institutional policies of the armed forces in said recordkeeping practices. We found that these practices evolved in tandem with the information and communication technologies available to them, that military personnel employed a relational approach to records and recordkeeping, and that recordkeeping practices of personal communications were directly connected to factors such as the information policies of the armed forces and the blurred lines between the on and off duty lives of active service members. Based on our findings, we suggest that future work should develop guidelines that help service members and their families prioritize which personal communications to record and keep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Moral injury, predominantly studied in military populations, has garnered increased attention in the healthcare setting, in large part due to the psychological and emotional consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The measurement of moral injury with instrumentation adapted from military settings and validated by frontline healthcare personnel is essential to assess prevalence and guide intervention. This study aimed to validate the Moral Injury Outcome Scale (MIOS) in the population of acute care. Methods: A sample of 309 acute care nurses completed surveys regarding moral injury, depression, anxiety, burnout, professional fulfillment, spiritual wellbeing, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted as well as an assessment of reliability and validity. Results: The internal consistency of the 14-item MIOS was 0.89. The scale demonstrated significant convergent and discriminant validity, and the test of construct validity confirmed the two-factor structure of shame and trust violations in this clinical population. Regression analysis indicated age, race, and marital status-related differences in the experience of moral injury. Discussion: The MIOS is valid and reliable in acute care nursing populations and demonstrates sound psychometric properties. Scores among nurses diverge from those of military personnel in areas that may inform distinctions in interventions to address moral injury in these populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]