Becoming a Registered Nurse

The Future Face of Nursing Profiles

Nursing in the Canadian Forces: Lieutenant (N) Jeff Lee

It takes a special person to accept the handshake of someone who has tried to obliterate your medical unit. For Lieutenant Jeff Lee, a critical care nurse who has just returned from the Canadian Field Hospital in Kandahar, there is no greater gift than a patient’s gratitude, even if that patient is fighting for the enemy.

“There is a sense of importance and urgency in my work. Knowing that I’m providing people with a better quality of life is very rewarding,” says Lieutenant Lee, who recently returned from six months in Afghanistan with the Canadian Forces’ Health Services Support Staff (HSS). There, he provided emergency and intensive care to Canadian, British and American troops as well as Afghan civilians. His critical care credentials were put to good use in Kandahar where casualty rates almost doubled during his rotation.

Lieutenant Lee joined the Canadian forces to study nursing after completing a degree at McGill University and working for an American manufacturing company as an applications engineer. He was attracted to the nursing profession and the Canadian Forces because “the work is exciting, tangible and gratifying.” Lieutenant Lee, who also holds a degree in meteorology and physics, wanted to work in a field that “provides a service” and “is not driven by profit.”

A certain toughness and stoicism is required of Canadian Forces’ nurses serving overseas. Standing in the broiling sun for several hours in a sun hat and shorts is one thing, but “wearing 20 pounds of gear in average summer temperatures of 58 Celsius can be horrific,” says Lieutenant Lee. He adds that he admires the combat soldiers that work constantly in these conditions.

Even rocket attacks don’t deter Lieutenant Lee and his colleagues, who continue to work in the field hospital until an alarm sounds meaning everyone has to put on their helmets and bullet proof vests, and prepare to leave the field hospital for the safety of bunkers. The field hospital is built on the runway to allow casualties to be loaded on and off aircraft as quickly as possible. While this makes sense for a rapid medical response, Lieutenant Lee remarked ruefully that “sleeping on the final approach of a runway” had its own challenges.

Lieutenant Lee notes that hard work and dedication are characteristics shared by many of the nurses who work with the tightly knit Canadian Forces team. “Military nurses volunteer to do 16-hour shifts to get the wounded home,” says Lieutenant Lee, who has experience providing critical care in both civilian and military settings. In the military “there is a profound sense of being part of a team and family. The soldiers rely on us and we rely on them to protect and support us to work safely in a war zone.”

Afghanistan was Lieutenant Lee’s second overseas mission. In 2005 he accompanied a Canadian Forces’ DART mission to Pakistan to provide medical care and basic resources for hundreds of earthquake victims, mainly the old and the very young. The Canadian medical platoon arrived in the beginning of Kashmir’s winter and stayed for two months, preparing the groundwork of voluntary organizations to take over. Lieutenant Lee is proud to be part of the first DART mission and “to handle births as well as deaths–the yin and yang of life,” says Lee.

Lieutenant Lee envisions spending the rest of his working career with the Canadian Forces, and is philosophical about life with the military. While he enjoys wearing a uniform and performing public service, Lieutenant Lee acknowledges that others might chafe under the rules and regimented life style. Nursing in the military is very different from nursing in a civilian setting, he says, because the responsibilities are more complex: “We are expected to manage and lead troops, worry about the rules of war outlined in the Geneva Convention and carry out our nursing responsibilities.” Nevertheless, Lieutenant Lee would not trade his career choice for any other: “In my short overseas deployments, I have seen more than others may see in a lifetime.”