The sky’s the limit for high-flying nurse

9 May 2008

SQUADRON Leader Natalie Sands only found her true niche in her 20-year nursing career when she joined the Department of Defence nearly seven years ago.

The sheer breadth and variety of her work with the air force has revitalised her career in the health industry.

“A career in the medical unit with the air force is a really great career,” Squadron Leader Sands said.

“I suppose I didn’t find my niche in nursing until I joined the air force.

“This job really suits my restless lifestyle as it takes me around the world and presents me with so many varied opportunities to work in my field.

“One of my favourite postings with the air force was with the peace monitoring mission in Bouganville – we had to deliver babies, treat machete wounds and do a lot of air medical evacuations.

“It is a beautiful country and the people are lovely.

“The peace monitoring mission lasted for six years and I came in on the end of that.

“Prior to my arrival there was a medical team and an operating theatre and full hospital facilities.”

Squadron Leader Sands has also worked in the Middle East. Her experience in conflict areas was useful when she was deployed with the air force medical team for the second Bali bombings retrieval.

Here she worked with the air medical evacuation team using a C130 Hercules aircraft to transport victims.

“Although the second Bali bombing did not have the amount of fatalities and casualties as the first bombing, there was still a lot of physical trauma and work with mental health.

“That’s the sheer variety of the work I do, from major trauma cases, and mental health issues right down to aeromedical evacuations,” Squadron Leader Sands said.

Currently, Squadron Leader Sands has been seconded to the Department of Defence (air force) defence force recruiting department in Brisbane.

It is now her job to “spread the word of how rewarding a career in the health sector is in the Department of Defence”. 

“There are some 200 health positions available including undergraduate sponsorships. This is a fantastic way to enter the Defence force, as students are paid a salary up to $32,800 per annum to complete their degree.

“There are many other benefits including have their HECS and text books paid for and they end up with a fantastic career when you’ve finished your degree,” she said.

Squadron Leader Sands began her nursing career at Royal Brisbane Hospital 20 years ago and later studied at QUT in Brisbane.

She also worked at Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital and in emergency, radiology and general surgical wards.

But it is the Department of Defence health career that has provided her with such a rewarding lifestyle.
 

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