We celebrate today with our Regular and Reservist RAF Nurses, to recognise International Nurses Day and the outstanding work that nurses all over the world do every day.
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Friday 12th May is International Nurses Day and the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. It is celebrated annually around the world and is led by the International Council of Nurses (ICN). The future of nursing and how the profession can help improve global health for all will be at the centre of this year’s International Nurses Day.
Sergeant Hannah Thraves is a Royal Air Force nurse, and part-time reservist, with Number 4626 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, which is part the medical operations group and sits with Tactical Medical Wing, based at RAF Brize Norton. She has recently returned from operations, where she worked as part of a light surgical group; a deployed hospital specialising in damage control resuscitation, damage control surgery and intensive care (ITU).
Hannah’s journey with the RAF began in 2008, when she joined No. 4626 Squadron as a medical assistant. But it was on an operational tour in Afghanistan that she decided to commit to nurse training. Sergeant Thraves said:
“I was a medic at the time, and I saw the job that the aeromedical evacuation nurses did and the benefit they provided to the injured personnel coming home, and that propelled me into doing the same thing.”
Hannah stayed with No. 4626 Squadron throughout her full-time, three-year degree course. She qualified as a nurse in 2015 and in civilian life is a nurse in the Emergency Department at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Sergeant Thraves said:
“I kept up my work with 4624 on top of my full-time study and did part time work to pay my way, even though there was a bursary to cover student fees, being part of the reserves really helped.”
Number 4626 Squadron was formed at RAF Wroughton in 1983 and has provided trained medical and nursing personnel to every major air operation in the last forty years. The Squadron specialises in aeromedical evacuation, pre-hospital, and primary healthcare. Its personnel are recruited from the NHS and private healthcare sector and from across England and Wales.
Describing her experiences as a nurse on operations, Sergeant Thraves said:
“This was my first deployment as a nurse, so I think the memory I would have of my recent operational experiences would be the incredible teamwork. The different specialisms within the nursing profession were amazing; we had a theatre nurse, an ITU nurse, an emergency medicine nurse all sharing information, but the teamwork was the biggest insight.”
When it comes to recommending nursing as a profession, Sergeant Thraves is realistic. She said:
“Would I recommend it? I have a foot in both camps, the RAF and NHS. I have experienced the pandemic in an NHS hospital and operations with the RAF. It’s been an incredible opportunity, developing as a nurse, working with the military in an amazing team. I would recommend nursing as a career, but it is not for the faint hearted, it takes an exceptional person to be a nurse.
“There are so many different options in nursing, and so many different types of nurses. It does not matter where you are in the world, nurses are a key element to every kind of medical service. And that is echoes within our own profession with the backgrounds and cultures we embody, and the differences they bring to our profession.”
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