When U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans ’11 learned about a cluster of suicides on USS George Washington in 2022, she got angry.
When the military issued a report acknowledging, “We have let our people down,” the former Navy helicopter pilot got even madder.
“It infuriated me that the number of sailors who died by suicide continues to rise,” Kiggans recalled in an interview in her Virginia Beach office. “That’s unacceptable. We must do better for those serving our great nation.”
But she didn’t wait for the report. Two weeks before it was issued, Kiggans introduced the Sailor Standard of Care Act to improve mental health services for people in the Navy.
Her bill quickly gained steam. Last June, the House Armed Services Committee added five provisions to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which determines the Pentagon’s policies and annual budget. One provision, for instance, requires the Navy to study whether to increase TRICARE reimbursement rates for mental health providers.
“I’m incredibly proud to have secured several wins in this year’s NDAA that will directly improve the healthcare and quality of life for service members and military families in Hampton Roads,” said Kiggans, who sits on the House Armed Services, Veterans’ Affairs and Natural Resources committees.
Kiggans, a Republican, was elected in 2022 to represent Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, which stretches from the Eastern Shore to Southampton County. Six months into her first year in the House, she was still frustrated by the partisan edge in Washington.
“I’ll be having a lovely talk with someone across the aisle and then I’ll hear them say the worst things about the other side,” Kiggans said. “I don’t think it’s necessary, and it’s not in the best interest of the country.”
Kiggans, who became a geriatric nurse practitioner after she left the Navy, has focused on military and healthcare issues. There, she’s found consensus.
With Democratic co-sponsors, she has introduced bills that would, for example, expand Medicare coverage for telehealth.
Kiggans, the first nurse practitioner in Congress, also helped resurrect the Congressional Nursing Caucus, of which she is co-vice chair. “We need more nurses, and nurses need a voice.
"We don’t have a lot of voices in government.”
She’d like to make it easier for nurse practitioners to provide care, particularly in rural areas. “Let us practice to the full scope of our abilities, so we can fill the gaps in healthcare. I don’t want to do open-heart surgery, but I can certainly provide really good patient care.”
As a young girl, Kiggans awoke to the sounds of “The Marines’ Hymn” every Saturday morning. Her father was a Green Beret who had served in the Vietnam War. “I grew up with that love of country,” she said.
She was an international relations student at Boston University in 1993, the year women were first allowed to fly combat missions. Her naval ROTC instructor told her, “You should think about this.”
Two years later, she began piloting H46 and H3 helicopters, serving twice in the Persian Gulf. Kiggans describes that time as “10 of the best years of my life.”
Her husband, Steve, was an F18 pilot. With four young children, they decided it would be best for the family if one of them left the service.
Kiggans’ family experience shaped her decision to become a geriatric nurse practitioner. Her mother was a nurse, and her father later worked in pain management at a VA hospital. Kiggans also recalled watching in pain as her grandfather, suffering from Alzheimer’s, received substandard care in a nursing home.
“There are so many older adults out there who are so wise. But they’re not a group of people who can advocate for themselves. It was a no-brainer for me to go back to school to help that group of people.”
At Old Dominion University, “I had wonderful clinical instructors,” Kiggans said. “It provided a great foundation, but it was hard. I had four little kids, and my husband was deployed, so I did most of my homework between 10 at night and two in the morning.”
As a nurse practitioner, she worked for Eastern Virginia Medical School and in private practice. “I miss it every day,” she said. She’s also been an adjunct instructor in Old Dominion’s nurse practitioner program. “I owe a lot to ODU. The great nursing degree and the education I received set me up for success in healthcare and politics. It’s a great honor to represent my school now.”