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As a secondary care nurse within a Joint Hospital Group ( JHG ) or at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine ( RCDM ), you will share shifts with NHS staff . You will be made to feel part of a hospital team and will have the same opportunities as your civilian counterparts to experience different work areas and develop your career .
Alternatively , you could be based at the tri-Service Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Stanford Hall in Loughborough . As your career progresses , you will have the chance to use your skills in exciting new environments , including on overseas postings , military operations and even humanitarian aid missions .
The RAF will provide you with a mentor for your first six months in a new post ; so there will always be someone there to give you support and advice .
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ON THE JOB : NURSING OFFICER
FLIGHT LIEUTENANT
COOLING
I have had the opportunity to experience being an RAF student nurse , registered Non- Commissioned nurse and I am now a Nursing Officer .
On graduating , I started as a Corporal at Queen Alexandra ’ s Hospital in Portsmouth and decided after 2 years to apply for my commission . On receiving my commission , I was posted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth , where I am currently the military lead for the Medical Assessment Unit at Derriford Hospital . I have a team of 16 nurses and medical assistants and similar day-to-day management tasks to an NHS charge nurse i . e . dealing with sickness , rotas and governance .
An average day for me is to be in the “ office ” by 0730 , whether
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that is on the ward or in our HQ . I normally have several emails to deal with whether that is people needing to take leave , the rota needing to be changed for deployments , or people asking about their career development before getting on with the day ’ s task . I enjoy the variety of my job . One day I am working in a bay with sick patients , another I ’ m teaching medical assistants how to interpret observations and other days I ’ m giving presentations on aeromedical evacuation . However , I can also be on standby to deploy . I have deployed to Canada where I provided aeromedical evacuation cover to 2500 troops on Exercise . There was time to socialise , relax and even do a |
little bit of adventurous training , but there were also times when I was in the office at 4am making phone calls across the Atlantic to make sure my patients were in the right place .
I have had some amazing experiences with the RAF and learned many new skills i . e . to ski , surf and even flown several aircraft . I have also travelled all over the world , gained a degree and been to some amazing social functions . I have also made some amazing friends through the RAF ; it is the people that make it what it is .
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