Did you know Royal Navy nurses work in NHS hospitals?
On International Nurse’s Day, read about Armed Forces nurses who are on the frontline against coronavirus.
A wealth of nursing experience in difficult conditions and leadership training has helped Military personnel support civilian colleagues.
Royal Navy nurses have been hard at work alongside their colleagues from the Army, RAF and NHS, to provide care to patients with the virus.
Petty Officer Naval Nurse Alice Mullen:
After being an Army reservist for 5 years, Alice joined the Royal Navy as a nurse and is currently plays a leading role in the response to coronavirus.
During her time in the Army, Alice worked at a field hospital before deploying for Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan where she met members of the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service. It was then that she chose to join the Royal Navy as a nurse.
“The idea of being deployed anywhere in the world, where people need medical help in both humanitarian operations and wartime really interested me.
One of the biggest appeals of joining the Royal Navy was the opportunity to take part in adventurous training; I have sailed around the UK and the Caribbean, and skied in France and Bavaria, gaining qualifications!”
Alice currently works in the ICU at Derriford Hospital, caring for patients during the coronavirus pandemic. She supports, mentors and helps up-skill new or returning nurses.
The ‘on tour’ mentality is influencing our NHS colleagues in positive ways and it’s clear that the only way to get through this in one piece, is to work together as one big team.
Leading Naval Nurse Ben Parham:
Wanting to see the world, Ben applied for the Royal Navy in his final year of Nursing at Plymouth University.
Of his Navy training, he says:
“The discipline, teamwork and organisation skills I learnt throughout those ten weeks will stay with me throughout my career. Earning my place in the Royal Navy and being awarded the Captain’s Prize for the best overall trainee within the entry, at a passing out ceremony attended by my family and friends, is an achievement that will stay with me for life.
I’ll always remember it as where my adventure started.”
Ben is now working in coronavirus wards at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.
Chief Petty Officer Michelle Kipling:
Michelle is the most senior nurse at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall, home to the navy’s anti-submarine helicopters. Her job is to keep 1,800 personnel safe.
In primary healthcare, her job is to keep the sailors fit, healthy and deployable including keeping up with vaccinations. Coronavirus has changed their ways of working.
“We are working hard to keep personnel healthy and trying to stop them going to hospital, therefore reducing the burden on the NHS at the same time.
We’re also only seeing specific patients and, at the moment, our priority is to ensure that all of our deployable squadrons are ready to go out there and fight for their country if needed.”
