Not Looking Back: From Military Nurse to Occupational Health Nurse

I joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a student nurse in July 2002 where I studied to become a Registered Nurse (Adult) at Portsmouth University alongside Army and Royal Navy student nurses. Our cohort of 50 nursing students was unique as everyone was serving in the armed forces. We were taught by both military and civilian nurse lecturers and split our time between Portsmouth University, where we could wear civilian clothing, and Fort Blockhouse (in Gosport), where we wore military uniform and marched everywhere on site. The combination ensured that we retained our military ethos and core values.

I graduated with a distinction in September 2005 and was posted to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC), Headley Court. I spent 4 years caring for wounded, injured and sick service personnel, many of whom sustained horrific injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a newly qualified nurse in my early 20s, it was often a difficult and emotive place to work. But it was also very rewarding to witness and be a part of numerous recovery journeys. Watching their progression and growth of someone returning from the battlefield with life-changing injuries.

During my time at DMRC, I spent 4 months working as an Aeromedical Evacuation Liaison Officer in Kuwait, where I ensured the safe and swift passage of wounded, injured and sick service personnel from Op Telic. I have many fond memories of my time at DMRC and encountered some wonderful opportunities, such as escorting a teenage brain-injured soldier to Clarence House, where he was presented his Op Telic campaign medal by the then Prince Charles; I had to explain to HRH that the soldier could only communicate by drawing pictures due to his injury.

In 2009, I was posted to RAF Waddington, where I started my career as a practice nurse and later studied to specialise within this field of nursing. I spent the rest of my RAF nursing career serving as a practice nurse in Gibraltar, RAF High Wycombe, and RAF Halton, before being medically discharged in 2019.

In early 2020, whilst working as a civilian practice nurse with the Army, I saw a unique Band 7 post being advertised for a Travel Health and Immunisation Nurse Specialist working at Public Health England within their in-house occupational health team. It sounded like my dream job! I had a lot of experience with travel health and immunisations, as a big part of my role as an RAF practice nurse was ensuring service personnel were fit to travel anywhere in the world, often at short notice. I was successful with my application, and on 01 April 2020, the first day of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, I joined the team.

I work in a diverse occupational health team of clinicians and admin support staff, where there is a wealth of knowledge and experience. We have a mix of remote-based Senior Occupational Health Advisors (SOHA), and site-based clinicians who either work at Porton Down in Wiltshire or Colindale in London. I work at Porton Down, which is a big, world-renowned scientific campus – the best way that I can describe it is that I feel a bit like Penny from the TV show ‘The Big Bang Theory’ as I work alongside some amazing brain power of talented scientists and researchers!

Initially, it was a steep but exciting learning curve as my new role involved much more than travel health and immunisations! Although it seemed daunting at first, I soon realised that I had many transferable skills from my previous nursing roles. With support and mentorship from my colleagues, I was soon confidently assessing pre-placement health questionnaires, carrying out new starter health assessments, taking occupational health screening bloods, carrying out skin and respiratory health surveillance, alongside my travel health and immunisation tasks.

In 2022, I wanted to develop myself further and started doing case management, which is something that I love and find rewarding. Even though it’s not acute nursing care and I carry out telephone-based assessments, I still feel like I’m making a difference to the health and wellbeing needs of our employees. I remember a case where an employee was referred with depression and anxiety, which was impacting his work. When I first spoke to him, I could tell that he was in a really dark place from the tone of his voice and what he told me, which ultimately led to a period of sickness absence. Over a period of weeks, and after several appointments with me, I could hear the difference in his voice and knew that he was getting better and was dealing with his demons, which allowed him to return and remain in work.

Fast forward to 2025, and I’m now an SOHA within the team, having successfully passed the Diploma in Occupational Health Practice. The last 18 months have been busy as, alongside studying and working full-time, I have two school-aged daughters, and in February, after 12 months of intensive training, I competed at the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler and won a bronze medal in skiing, competed in skeleton and indoor rowing!

I can honestly say that moving into occupational health is by far the best career decision that I’ve ever made; I work in a fantastic and very supportive team that truly encouraged me to pursue my dreams of becoming an SOHA. For anyone considering a career in OH who’s doubting themselves as they don’t think they have the skills, I really encourage you to try it, as nursing has so many transferable skills. Good luck!

This blog first appeared in the Society of Occupational Medicine blog page as part of careers week.