Flight nurse
A Flight Nurse is a registered nurse who specialises in the field of providing comprehensive pre-hospital, emergency critical care and hospital care to a vast scope of patients. The care of these patients is generally during aeromedical evacuation or rescue operations aboard helicopters, propeller aircraft or jet aircraft. On-board a rescue aircraft you would find a flight nurse accompanied by flight medics and respiratory practitioners, as well as the option of a flight physician for comprehensive emergency and critical transport teams. The inclusion of a flight physician is more commonly seen in paediatric and neonatal transport teams.[2]
Roles and Duties
A Flight Nurse is required to complete a copious amount of duties each and every call out. Listed below is a comprehensive list of these duties and responsibilities:
- Flight Nurses perform as a member of an aeromedical evacuation team on helicopters and propeller or jet aircraft
- Responsible for planning and preparing for aeromedical evacuation missions
- Expedite mission and initiate emergency treatment in absence of Flight Physician
- Provide in-flight management and nursing care for patients
- Evaluate individual patient in-flight needs
- Liaison between medical and operational aircrews and support personnel to promote patient comfort
- Responsible for maintaining patient care, comfort and safety
- Care for patients with both medical and traumatic issues
- Request appropriate medications, supplies and equipment to provide care to patient
- Must have training in mechanical ventilation, hemodynamic support, vasoactive medications and intensive care skills
- Specialised clinical skills in union with knowledge, theory, education and expertise in hospital and pre-hospital environments are required [3]
- Perform advanced medical procedures without supervision of a doctor such as intubation, ventilator management, chest tube insertion, intra-osseous line placement, central line placement, intra-aortic balloon pump management, management of pacing devices, titration of vasoactive medications, pain management, administration of anaesthetic medications for intubation, and in some cases, emotional and family care [2]
Education
National Requirements for most Flight Nurse programs include:
- License as a registered nurse- attainable through most Universities or Education Institutions
- 2–3 years of critical care experience and/or Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) experience.
- Advanced Cardiac Life Support certificate (ACLS)
- Pediatric Advanced Life Support Certificate (PALS)[2]
Additional requirements may include:
- Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP)
- Nationally recognised trauma program such as Pre Hospital Trauma Life (PHTLS)
- Support (PHTLS), Basic Trauma Life Support (BTLS), Trauma Nurse Core Course (TNCC), or Transport Nurse Advanced Trauma Course (TNATC)
- Certifications such as Critical Care certification (CCRN), Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN), or Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN)[2]
Helpful, but may not be required:
- EMT or EMT-P (Paramedic) certification with field experience (some states require flight nurses to be certified as EMT’s or EMT-P’s)[2]
Credentialing
- Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN)
- Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN)
- Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN)[2]
Types of Flight Nurses
Civilian Flight Nurse
- Works for hospitals, federal, state and local governments, private medical evacuation firms, fire departments and other agencies.[2]
Military Flight Nurse
- Army Air Force Evacuation Service
- Member of aeromedical evacuation crew
- Senior medical member of aeromedical evacuation team on Continental United States (CONUS)
- Works in intra-theatre and inter-theatre flights to provide in-flight management and nursing care
- Plan/Prepare aeromedical evacuation missions and prepare patient care facilitation plan[4]
Australian Flight Nursing
Australia has an estimated 20% of land recognised as desert with a rather small population density. Providing health care to these remote, rural towns can prove to be quite laborious. Australia provides a number of organisations that flight nurses are under employment of.[3]
(Nursing and Health Sciences)
Extra Reading
Several books and weblink have been published to give an insight into Flight Nursing, some of these include:
- Operation Flight Nurse: Real-Life Medical Emergencies (Kaniecki, 2013)
- Trauma Junkie: Memoirs of an Emergency Flight Nurse (Hudson, 2010)
- RAF Medical Services
- Air Medical Services
- Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia
See also
References
- ↑ "Angels of the Airfields: Navy Air Evacuation Nurses of World War II | Naval Historical Foundation". www.navyhistory.org. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jones, Joy; Young, J S (2004). "Soaring to New Heights as a Flight Nurse". Critical Care Nurse. ISSN 0279-5442.
- 1 2 Brideson, G (2015). "Images of flight nursing in Australia: A study using institutional ethnography". Nursing and Health Sciences. doi:10.1111/nhs.12225.
- ↑ US Air Force ROTC. "Flight Nurse". Retrieved 2008-06-05.
External resources
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