Nurses routinely provide essential and integral core functions in the field hospital environment, such as daily operational service delivery planning and management, clinical governance and scope of practice supervision, workforce management and skillmix allocation highlight the need for constant flexibility and adaptation when planning, allocating, and maintaining an effective and efficient deployed operational clinical workforce roster to ensure optimal and quality service delivery is achieved. Nurses should not only be appropriately skilled and trained, but most importantly, supported in the translation and adaptation of their nursing practice into the context of an austere and environmentally challenging setting. In addition, nursing staff need to have an awareness of the host nation’s health and societal culture, language, and potential barriers, which may impact on the abilities to effectively deliver clinical care.Strong nursing leadership is pivotal in ensuring effective and efficient running of a deployed field hospital with limited resources in an austere and environmentally challenging setting. In the context of overwhelming demand, limited resources and a low-tech environment, there is a requirement for a flexible, adaptable, multi-skilled nursing workforce to adequately meet the needs of the population at risk.