QARNNS
QARNNS stands for 'Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service. It is part of ther Royal Naval Medical Service, one of three nursing organisations within Defence Medical Services the others being Army - Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps QARANC RAF - Princess mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service PMRAFNS
Following an initial deployment by a group of women nurses during the Crimean War, Royal Naval Nurses were formally recognised towards the end of Queen Victoria's reign.
From the QARNNS website: 'By 1884 a certified Naval Nursing Service staffed by trained nurses was brought into being: six nursing sisters were appointed to Haslar and five to Plymouth. Boys were recruited from the Greenwich Hospital school to form the beginnings of the Sick Berth Attendant Branch.
In the wards the Sisters were addressed as Madam by both staff and patients and absurd precautions were taken to protect them from the discomfort of viewing any part of the patients' bodies other than the head, shoulders and feet. An important part of the Sisters' responsibility was the practical instruction of the newly formed Sick Berth Staff.
The Sisters originally wore a uniform of a navy-blue serge dress, white apron, small navy-blue serge shoulder capes and white frilled caps with strings. In the summer this was replaced by a white blouse and blue skirt.
In 1902 Her Majesty Queen Alexandra (pictured above) signified that it was her gracious pleasure to become President of the Nursing Staff, which was known thereafter as Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service.
To mark the Royal favour, the Sisters wore on the right hand side of their tippet a black cloth badge, embroidered with a red cross on a white ground encircled in gold; above this Her Majesty's monogram 'AA' in red interlaced an anchor and cable in gold, and the whole was surmounted by the Imperial Crown.
Following suggestions made by Her Majesty, the uniform was modified in various ways. The dress and cape were made of navy-blue linen with scarlet cuffs surmounted by a white handkerchief cap with an embroidered Naval crown in one corner.
In 1910 the principal civilian hospitals agreed to supply nurses at short notice in the event of war and the nucleus QARNNS Reserve was formed. In 1914 these same hospitals supplied large numbers of their Nursing Staff to augment the regular Service at the outbreak of war. The Voluntary Aid Detachment of the British Red Cross and the St John Ambulance Brigade also produced many volunteers.
These women, known as 'The VADs', were already skilled in all varieties of nursing and other duties. The men were absorbed into the Sick Berth Attendant Branch. This large group of dedicated men and women served everywhere throughout the war. Between the wars they all returned to their normal duties, but again in 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War, large numbers came forward from the civilian hospitals; some proceeding abroad without first serving in Naval Medical Establishments at home.
After the war in 1949, a Medical Branch of the Women's Royal Naval Service was formed and WRNS Sick Berth Attendants were trained. They were replaced in 1960 when a Naval Nurse section of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service came into being.
The remaining Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses were given the option of joining the newly formed QARNNS Auxiliary Branch, as Naval Nurse ratings, thus giving a two-tier QARNNS.
In 1982 an integrated nursing service was established to allow male nurses to serve as officers and ratings in QARNNS.
In recent years QARNNS personnel have been called in to fulfil a war-time role: in the Falklands in 1982, and in the Gulf War of 1991, when they served at sea in RFA Argus. They now serve regularly in Iraq and Afghanistan supporting land operations.
Today the QARNNS Patron is HRH Princess Alexandra - the great-granddaughter of its first President, Queen Alexandra. The Service has seen many changes throughout its history of medical care in the Royal Navy but the present combined forces of Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service and the Medical Branch of the Royal Navy - men and women working side by side in base hospitals and sick quarters - will continue to meet the challenge in the future as they have in the past.
QARNNS personnel male and female are currently serving on OP HERRICK, both in the Role 4 Medical facility in Camp Bastion and in other medical roles in eg Lashkar Gar and other locations.
Additional RN material on Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service can be found on the RN website at
http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/careers/explore-jobs/all-jobs/nursing-officer/whats-the-job/index.htm
