Australian Nurses Role In Ww2

Before the existence of the Great War, America had fought in previous wars. In the years before the Great War nursing was not even a word for the women who had helped with the aid of fallen soldiers. Florence Nightingale, who helped in establishing nursing as a career used her efforts in organizing an emergency nursing service (Dahlman 2). Nightingale started off at first with forty women, some of whom were Sisters of Religious Nursing Orders and others hospital-taught women of the old school, not trained in the modern way, but experienced (Dahlman 3). Florence Nightingale founded the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St. Thomas’ Hospital which was the parent of the modern system of nursing. From her, therefore, we may well date the story of nursing service of the American Red Cross (Dahlman 4).

As a result of WW1, Australia’s society became an unbiased environment for Women, because they were given the opportunity to do jobs that had been left empty by men who had gone to fight the Germans. Life for

Women were involved in all land, sea and air services in support of military efforts. Only five per cent served overseas, most of which were nurses. Though not in combat, many nurses were in danger, some even lost their lives as they worked in or near combat areas. Betty Jeffrey was a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service when she was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore. As a result of incarceration by the Japanese for three and a half years, Betty suffered from Beri Berii, tuberculosis and amoebic dysentery which she never fully recovered from. This exhibits the jeopardy that both women and men face during wartime. Other military services that women assisted in include: The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), The Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS), The Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) and The Australian Army Medical Women’s Service (AAMWS). Women in these services had a range of duties, from highly approved - officers – to ordinary – drivers, typists, clerks and wireless operators. Australian women were substantially regarded and their roles in society changed immensely.

In 1788, several medical staff arrived in Sydney on 'The First Fleet' boat from England. Soon after arriving, The Colonial Medical Service was established to provide basic medical care to the convicts and others in the area. A temporary hospital, The Sydney Infirmary was created in Sydney Cove. The general nursing duties were undertaken by untrained convicts to assist the medical staff. The male assistants looked after the male patients and the female assistants looked after the female patients. Many of the patients were being housed in tents on the hospital grounds. These extremely harsh conditions generated a high death toll, this began the construction of a more permanent convict hospitals at Windsor, Bathurst,

One aspect of nursing that has changed since the early 1800’s is nursing education. There was no question about the credibility of the women providing care to soldiers after the war. For many years untrained nurses and consequently nursing students cared the sick without any supervision. In 1873, the need for educated nurses was sought but was opposed by untrained physicians who thought trained nurses would pose a threat to their jobs (Gary & Hott, 1988). “Nurses have evolved

Over 5000 volunteer nurses’ north and south served in military hospitals during the Civil War. Nurses were of all sorts and came from all over. Women wanted to be involved in this national struggle in any way they could. They did not want to stay home and play their traditional domestic roles that social convention and minimal career opportunities had confined the majority of their sex to. Many women thought of nursing as an extension of their home duties, almost like taking care of “their boys.” They recall the Civil War as a time when their work as nurses made a difference. It gave them an opportunity to prove they had the ability and courage to help.

As a result of the bombings, Australians started caving in to the possibility of a Japanese invasion, where the Japanese pilots displayed an attack of might and patriotism. A spirited fight from the Australians saw four Japanese planes destroyed, but the true heroes were the nurses, who nursed injured civilians and soldiers back to health. Their heroic actions were admired by the public, as shown in the Barrier Miner newspaper, saying “Heroic nurses at Darwin”, and they displayed hope and resilience on a dark day in Australian

WWII had a large impact on the lives of Australian women. As the men were away from their homes and daily lives fighting overseas, women were employed in jobs, got paid at higher rates than usual, became the important figure in the house and were enrolled in women’s army roles.

December 7, 1941 a date that will forever be remembered in American history, was the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan. The air in the country after the attack was that of patriotism and determination to defend the nation. America’s involvement in World War II had a profound effect on the profession of nursing. In the time frame of the war nursing saw influences and changes take place within the creation of the National Nursing Council for War, the shortage in nurses, the expansion of nursing practice used while in flight, the view of African Americans serving their country, and the post-war affects of nursing when the war ended.

In the world today nursing plays a major role that often associates with Civil War women, due to the fame of Clara Barton. Clara later founded “the American Red Cross in 1881.” Unlike other nurses she went out to the battlefield to nurse the soldier where they have fallen. With that courageous act she became known at the “Angel of the Battlefield.” Clara was a courageous

Prior to WWI, women were only allowed to be a military nurse but even then, they weren 't actually enlisted. They were taking care of the men during the war and wasn’t given no type of recognition for doing so. Women 's roles

These female nurses provided medical help for the wounded soldiers at Gallipoli and also on the Western Front. As most of the hospital stations were near the front line many nurses were exposed to aerial bombs and shelling. They were expected to work in primitive conditions; some hospitals were equipped for a mere 520 people yet held 2500 during the wartime. As a result of the long hours and poor conditions many nurses suffered serious illnesses. A total of 2139 Australian nurses served overseas and of these 25 died. Through enduring such adverse conditions nurses proved extreme dedication towards the war effort and their country.

The experiences of Australian women in both World War 1 and World War 2 were similar but also different. WWI was fought from 1914 to 1918, and WW2 was fought from 1939 to 1945. These were the biggest military conflicts in the history of man. The main areas of change in Australian women around these times were employment, roles and positions in the war, and the attitudes towards women at these times. In WW1, the main occupation for Australian women was nursing. In World War 2, however, women were given the opportunity to do ‘a man’s job’ for the first time.

The nurses experienced so much trauma in such a little time, that most suffered from PTSD. The experiences that brought on this PTSD was the shock of conflict in Vietnam, the problematic return to a country that did not understand their participation or experiences, the denial of their work in Vietnam, and a sense of isolation from their male counterparts in Nam and their female counterparts back home as well as absence of veterans service groups upon returning to home. The nurses were not recognized for the job that they had done, which allowed many soldiers to return home to their families.

Nurses played an important role during the war and nursing soon became a profession rather than just volunteer work. In 2002, The World Health Organization announced declining numbers of nurses and brought attention that this issue needs assistance to prevent negative outcomes affecting patients directly. “Later that year, the WHO went on to publish Strategic directions for strengthening nursing and midwifery services, which provided a framework of five key result areas to guide Member States in enhancing their support of nurses and midwives”(World Health Organization, 2010). The World Health Organization addressed the issue of declining numbers or nurses at the beginning of the century and it continues to decrease as the years have passed. Nursing was created as a profession due to the after effects of the great world wars, which was one of the main motive for the Governments in different nations to initiate and support nurses in terms of education, healthcare facilities and jobs. During the early 20th century when the World Health Organization alerted the shortage of nurses since than the health of each patient was at risk for not receiving the satisfaction of their treatment which they would need in order for their health to improve.