ON THE JOB : PMRAFNS NURSE CORPORAL
PARRY
I am a registered nurse within Princess Mary ’ s Royal Air Force Nursing Service ( PMRAFNS ); I completed my nursing degree at The University of Nottingham . I joined the RAF on 31 May 2017 as a qualified nurse , after wanting to apply since the age of 13 . The RAF has many more opportunities for nurses and this really appealed to me .
Military nurses are different to civilian nurses as we could be deployed to work in many countries and within several different roles . This includes aeromedical evacuation of patients , field hospitals or even on board a ship with the Royal Navy . As well as our clinical skills we must keep our military training up to date , we have regular fitness tests and develop skills such as weapon handling and CBRN ( chemical , biological , radiological and nuclear threats ).
My friends and family firmly supported my decision to join and are really interested in keeping up with what I am doing . I have many friends that I qualified with that always want to hear about how my job is different and the opportunities I have due to being in the RAF .
I have recently finished the military preceptorship programme at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine ( RCDM ); this involved two six-month rotations of a medical and surgical ward . The wards I worked on were respiratory medicine and liver surgery . Following this I have completed an elective placement in
Theatres , working in anaesthetics and scrubbing for operations . The RAF has the opportunity to specialise in several areas of nursing and theatre nursing is one of these options . An average day for me is working clinically on a surgical admissions ward , alongside both NHS and military staff . This ward deals with GP and ED referrals for patients that may require surgical interventions .
As RCDM is a tri-Service unit , I have had the opportunity to compete in the Royal Navy Swimming Championships as well as several sports at unit level , including athletics . Also , I have been able to go on exercise with a field hospital . There are opportunities to volunteer for events within the wider RAF ; I assisted at the RAF 100 Aircraft Tour in Manchester .
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