specialty focus
Honouring a legacy
An aspiring flight nurse shares his journey .
By Elise Hartevelt
A
World War II nurse has passed on her passion to her grandson , who now is now aiming for a nursing career with the Royal Flying Doctor Service .
Harrison Mayall , 23 , is the same age as his grandmother Betty Dorothy Robinson when she was posted to a military hospital in Driffield , a town in Yorkshire in England .
As planes and bombers would fly in from the coast , Betty cared for wounded soldiers and pilots who were hurt on the battlefield .
“ She was such a remarkable woman and told some truly inspiring stories about nursing during the War and the lives she saved ,” Harrison said .
“ Soldiers , pilots , POWs – she treated everyone and everything , including meningitis , TB and other infectious diseases .
“ I always dreamed that one day I would do the same .”
Betty passed away at 92 , but her stories live on through Harrison .
He shared with Nursing Review that he visited her often and listened to how his grandmother saved people ’ s lives and helped others .
“ She said that as she did nursing , it helped her become a better person as well ,” he said .
“ It inspired me to want to become a nurse myself growing up .”
18 | nursingreview . com . au
Harrison is now in his second year of a Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Southern Queensland and aspires to join the Royal Flying Doctor Service .
He said they share a similar personality as they love working in a high-paced , adventurous environment .
“ I ’ m a bit of an adrenaline junkie ,” Harrison said .
“ With flying doctors , I like that you can travel and fly out to remote areas and help people – it ’ s exciting .”
Harrison is excited about his first placement this semester and plans to specialise in working in the emergency department .
For him , it ’ s essential to focus on gaining experience and confidence in the work field , especially as the sector faces significant staffing shortages and higher workloads .
“ I ’ m just really nervous about the whole thing , I guess ,” he shared .
“ I can imagine how busy you would be , so it would be even busier now with the shortages .”
He ’ s also aware that the sector is a female-dominated workplace and that he might encounter the negative influence of gender stereotyping .
Roughly 90 per cent of those working in the sector are female .
“ I think that I may be stereotyped as a male nurse going into a femaledominated workplace just because people will be used to women rather than men ,” he said .
“ I ’ m a bit of an adrenaline junkie .
“ So I ’ m also a little worried , but if I do the nursing and the programme right and study pretty much everything about nursing , then I ’ ll go into it confidently .”
After finishing his Bachelor ’ s degree , Harrison is weighing up working as a registered nurse to gain some experience or immediately applying for his Masters “ while the knowledge is still fresh in his mind ”.
If he genuinely wants to pursue his dream as a flying doctor , he ’ ll also need midwifery experience .
“ If you fly to a remote area where there ’ s no hospital , and someone ’ s giving birth , you need to be prepared for that as well ,” he said .
“ I ’ ve never been the studious type , so perhaps hands-on experience works out well for me .”
But one thing is clear to Harrison – his grandmother would be proud of him .
“ I was pretty young when she passed away and I was quite affected by it , but I had a good connection with her .
“ She inspired me so much . To be a better person and
help people wherever I can .” ■
Harrison Myall . Picture : Supplied