Nurses During The Vietnam War

Dear diary today is my first day as a nurse in Vietnam, I have to say that it not what I had expected. First off I expected to be in a big hospital building, with good equipment to work with. However I did not expect to work in small tents. There is very little room, and hard to move around with so many people. There are so many soldiers who are wounded, and can barely move. I have to say that this job is exhausting because more soldiers keep coming, some of the men

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

However, female soldiers also have many tough things to do and face the risk of death. Although they join a war as nurses, they need to fight against an

With the establishment of the National Nursing Council for War the nursing shortage was able to be tackled. With encouragement from the council the United States Public Health Service conducted a National Inventory of Registered Nurses, which informed them of the number of nurses in the nation, their preparation, experience and availability to help with the war (Jamieson et al., 1966). After the National Inventory of Registered Nurses was conducted it allowed for federal funds to be granted to nursing schools in the nation in good standing, so that they could increase student enrollment. During the beginning of World War II nurses that joined the military did not receive many benefits and were also underpaid compared to their male counter parts. However, as the war continued the need for nurses in both the civilian and military settings became so great that in 1943 Congress passed the Bolton Bill, sponsored by Mrs. Frances Payne Bolton (Jamieson et

The Vietnam War was the longest war ever fought by U.S. military forces. U.S. personnel were engaged from 1961 until 1973. Approximately 10,000 U.S. military women served in Vietnam during the war. Most were members of the Army, Navy, and Air Force Nurse Corps. All of the Army nurses were volunteers who attended a six-week basic training class, and then were assigned to one-year stunts in Vietnam hospitals and mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) units. Most of these nurses were fresh out of nursing school, some with less than six months of clinical experience. These nurses were not prepared for the physical and emotional wounds that they would have to heal.

On March 15, 1965, large shipments of troops arrived in South Vietnam. These troops occupied the country until 1973. During this time, many men fought and died for the United States of America. The numerous nurses that operated on thousands of soldiers are often forgotten. The soldiers that the nurses operated on were usually blown apart and crippled for life. The nurses worked diligently to save these men. Even by working hard to save these men they were not recognized as army personnel by the public. The Vietnamese citizens and even the male American soldiers looked down upon the nurses. The United States did not acknowledge the nurses that served in the Vietnam War until 1993. The nurses

One of the roles women played in the Vietnamese military were nurses. They were usually 20 years or older. More than 80% of the women were military nurses, said the Vietnam center and Archive. “Combat nurses worked 12 hour shifts 6 days a week.” When bad things happened they sometimes had to work 24 or 36 hours. They had a lot of emotions, said also by the Vietnam center and Archive.

One of the biggest areas that women joined in the workforce during World War II was the nursing sector. Since most men were going overseas for the war, they needed nurses to go to when they had gotten hurt. This was ideal for many single Canadian women, who volunteered themselves. Nurses started to get recognized in World War I, but when World War II started there were more than 4,000 women who were serving as nursing sisters in all three branches of Canada’s military service.7 Canada’s Nursing Sisters played a significant role in the care of wounded soldiers during World War II, without these nurses it would have been a hard journey, saving the lives of as many soldiers as they did during the war. The nurses were an important part of Canadian military; most of the nurses

According to McEwen and Willis in chapter 1 (2014) nursing was considered just an occupation through most of the 20th Century. In essence the tasks nurses did were viewed similarly to what wives and mothers already did meaning nursing was not a profession. The lesson this week states theory is important to nursing because it distinguishes its unique qualities that expand nursing to a profession and not just an occupation (CCN, 2011). Bond et al. (2011) show that in the early 1950s nursing leaders started to grow the nursing occupation into a profession. In order to do this, they combined science, theory, research, and clinical practice.

Females generally acted as the nurses as we see in Quintilian's prescription on the type of nurse allocated the child. The female, generally, therefore seemed to be differentiated by a traditional nurturing role and in these nurturing professions, she was expected to , generally, excel better than boys.

In this research I studied World War II, different aspects of it and articles from this time. We studied four different topics, one was on the sciences and in the field of nursing. This article explained the care British nurses gave to victims of typhus during this war. Humanities was another topic, and it covered the history of this war and of Adolf Hitler. Social Sciences was another topic, and what education was like for music education during the time of World War II. The last topic was business, and how weapon technology during this war were advancing. All of these sources explain World War II in different ways, and connect all of these different topics from different point of views.

In the fall of 1862, a war raged between the union and confederate forces at the Battle of Antietam. More than 130,000 soldiers fought, more than 22,000 were wounded. On the battlefront was a woman, Ms. Clara Barton, nicknamed the “Angel of the Battlefield”. Ms. Barton observed the strain of frontline battle, namely hunger, sickness, and wounds and once said “I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them”. (CITATION) It is this same dedication to nursing and our armed forces that drives my philosophy of nursing.

Following history to the birth of our nation, the story of America's military woman can be traced. Since the American Revolution women have fought every major battle alongside men in the United States Military where women served informally as cooks, seamstresses, nurses, spies and were subject to Army's rule of Conduct. Though these women were not in uniform like men, they shared soldier's hardships, including inadequate housing and little compensation. According to Warriors for Freedom, "women have formally been part of the U.S Armed Forces since the Inception of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. In 1973 the transition to the All-Volunteer Force marked a dramatic increase in the opportunities available for women to serve in the military."

In the 1940’s during World War II is when the functional nursing model became popular. This model was vastly used due to a shortage of nurses during the great war in the United States. To provide care for the battle wounded soldiers, there was a large influx of nurses who joined the armed forces. In addition,

In the Second World War, the nursing acquired greater importance and relief. The need was so great, that the US Government offered incentives for women to train as nurses. More than 59,000 U.S. nurses provided its services in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II. The nurses worked closer than ever to the frontlines. As part of the chain of evacuation established