Flight nurses deliver maternity services in the Outback

With two very special occasions of Mother’s Day (May 11) and International Nurses Day (May 12) happening so close together, the Royal Flying Doctor Service is taking the opportunity to celebrate the unique role of flight nurses.

We often think of the Flying Doctor responding to injuries from a motor vehicle accident, snake bites or heart attacks.

However, with smaller hospitals no longer offering maternity services, caring for women in early labour, or with birth complications is an important part of the job.

This is why RFDS flight nurses need dual qualifications in midwifery and critical care.

RFDS Senior Flight Nurse Karen Barlow said nurses need to be ready for anything, because they don’t know what they will face during their shift.

“No two days are the same for a flight nurse – you might start a day by going to Walgett to assist a cardiac patient, then to Cobar to pick up a woman who has gone into early labour,” Karen said. […]

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RFDS Flight Nurse Kerry Ukena. Photo – Michael Amendolia