Meet Caroline, a former RAF Administrator, now a Senior Veteran Liaison Nurse at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

Caroline joined the RAF at 17 years old. She completed her training at Hereford and was later transferred to Biggin Hill as an Administrator. There she flourished for ove 13 years. She toured abroad a lot and as trust in her abilities grew, she was introduced to more and more high profile assignments.

Her RAF career spanned from 1988-2000 and she loved it. Unfortunately, she suffered a serious back injury when playing a mixed inter-service hockey game and her forces husband was posted 100 miles away. This was the moment Caroline decided to make a change and start to retrain as a nurse.

Caroline said: “I was so pleased to start work at LPFT. I took an 18 month rotational post, doing six months each on the acute, forensic and older adults wards. And, over the years I have worked across community, MoD and the rehab units.“

Caroline is now a Senior Veteran Liaison Nurse with LPFT’s Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS), part of Op Courage running the East Midlands Veterans’ Hub.

This is the NHS mental health specialist service designed to help serving personnel due to leave the military, reservists, armed forces veterans and their families.

Caroline adds: “My work-life balance is so much better now than it’s ever been. There’s no pressure to be in the office. We are allvery supportive of each other. It helps that we’re all vested in positive outcomes for veterans with mental health issues; it gives us a real common purpose and that’s a privileged environment to work in.

“If you’re wondering about joining the NHS and are worried, don’t be. Just do it!”

“The NHS is an amazing organisation with all the career opportunities you could wish for.”

“If you want to climb the ladder there are great leadership programmes available. Or if you’d prefer focussing on areas of work that really interest you, you can do that too. There are so many options available!“

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) provides mental health services and a number of learning disability, autism and social care services in Lincolnshire.
If you meet the minimum criteria on the person specification – you are guaranteed an interview.

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