As part of Salute!, which honours extraordinary journeys of service, care, and family in the Armed Forces community, we’re proud to share the story of Sarah Kirkby, regional trainer for the East of England with the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA).
Since qualifying as an Adult Nurse in 2014, Sarah’s career has spanned NHS surgical wards, Covid-19 research trials, military recovery services, and veteran support charities. Now in her role with the VCHA, Sarah will deliver training to NHS staff and partner organisations, helping them to better understand the Armed Forces community and the specific support available to them.
This International Nurses’ Day, her story highlights the vital role nurses play in delivering care, raising awareness, and bridging the gap for those who serve and their families.
A Career Shaped by Service Life
Although only qualifying in 2014, my career as an Adult Nurse has been extremely varied, largely due to the nature of being married to someone serving in the Armed Forces. I have predominantly spent my career working within the NHS, within surgical areas, pre-operative assessment and stroke rehabilitation. I also had my first taste of research nursing back in 2020 when my husband was posted to Wiltshire. Although an odd time to join (in the height of the pandemic) I felt very honoured to be a part of the research teams conducting Covid-19 vaccine and treatment trials.
Before moving into the research nursing role in Bristol, I had lived in North Yorkshire and worked for the Ministry of Defence supporting Army Serving Personnel who were unable to work due to illness and injury.
Within this role I would work alongside other members of the multi-disciplinary team to facilitate the recovery journey of wounded, injured and sick soldiers, supporting their return to work, or assisting their preparation for leaving the Army. This gave me the first insight into the gravity of medical discharge, and an appreciation of the all-consuming nature of service life.
- Our servicemen and servicewomen served and continue to serve our country, and I hope this International Nurses’ Day we can also acknowledge the service our nurses provide to us each and every day without fail.
In a further posting, I joined the charity Help for Heroes as a Veterans Community Nurse. Here, I initially supported Veterans with service attributable injuries and illnesses (before the charity then changed its eligibility to any Veteran who has a support need) alongside other members of the Recovery Service, to support their ongoing recovery. What struck me was the obvious gap for many between leaving Service and then engaging with or seeking out care and support for their health, and additionally the lack of awareness of the support that was available to them. It also opened my eyes to the impact of a military career on a person’s body, but also the diversity of the injury and illness. Encouragingly though, it also exposed me to the huge number of third sector organisations, community projects, plus NHS commissioned services that are available to support the whole Armed Forces Community, ones I had not been aware of previously. It also highlighted the importance of ensuring that we identify this community so as to ensure that we are signposting, referring and collaborating with partners to minimise unwarranted variation and disadvantage, whilst also utilising specific services that may provide a person with the optimal support available.
In a time of extreme challenge for nurses, I am hopeful that in the coming months the VCHA team can begin to help, through training and education, to support the whole of our NHS and partner organisations to not only understand the Armed Forces Community a little more, but also be able to identify options of support for them, therefore helping with the provision of person centred care and hopefully easing some of the pressures felt by healthcare staff. Our service men and women served and continue to serve our country, and I hope this International Nurses’ Day we can also acknowledge the service our nurses provide to us each and every day without fail.
Words by Sarah Kirkby
To access information on support available to the Armed Forces community, click here.
If you have a story to share or any story suggestions, we’d love to hear from you – submit yours and be part of this growing collection of voices celebrating the Armed Forces community.
Email us at rnoh.vcha@nhs.net
