News

Help for Heroes’ resources could help front-line nurses deal with impact of COVID-19

Military charity’s Battlefield guide has advice on mental health and well-being

Help for Heroes’ Lessons from the Battlefield guide has advice on supporting loved ones’ mental health and well-being

Help for Heroes’ complex clinical case manager and former army nurse Phil Hall
Help for Heroes’ complex clinical case manager and former army nurse Phil Hall

Nurses are being urged to learn from the experiences of military veterans to help them and their families recognise and recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Charity Help for Heroes says its online Lessons from the Battlefield resources – designed for and with wounded veterans and their families – can also support front-line healthcare workers.

Help for Heroes’ complex clinical case manager Phil Hall was an army nurse for 25 years and also worked in the NHS. ‘On the front line of fighting you are in a constantly changing environment, working with new people and you may not know who or where the enemy is and that compares closely with COVID-19,’ he said.

Lessons from the Battlefield offers advice on mental health and well-being

There are also similarities in the mental health effects on nurses dealing with traumatic experiences and experiencing stress-related disorders, compassion fatigue and burnout. Additionally, nurses’ families face many of the same fears and strain as veterans’ families.

The Lessons from the Battlefield guide is aimed at family members and contains advice on supporting loved ones’ mental health and well-being.

Mr Hall’s wife, Annie, is a medical nurse and has been working up to 60 hours per week during the pandemic. One of her main concerns was about spreading the virus to the family. ‘She has stopped hugging the children and they don’t hug her either. Little things like that can have a long-term impact,’ he said.

‘I would encourage nurses to go through this guide with their partners and children because it helps families recognise the stress nurses have been through, and to reflect on some of the stress their families have experienced.’

View our well-being resource centre


In other news

Jobs