Nursing contributions and benefits during war

Introduction
In the American civil war era, “nurses” were largely upper- and middle- class white-American females. The profession of nursing was yet to be instituted, with a majority of individuals who assumed the nursing role being required to learn in the process of performing their everyday tasks. Armed forces hospitals were only just seeing the entry of female nursing staff, as, traditionally, recuperating soldiers filled a majority of nursing posts, particularly on the field which was regarded as inappropriate for females (Cashin, 2016; Hallett, 2014). But together with female nurses, others belonging to different backgrounds, serving in the role of laundress, matron, cook, etc., carried out much the same duties. In this essay, nursing advantages and contributions in wartime will be examined.
Contributions
Nursing staff offered their services in every kind of hospital: traveling hospitals, operation teams, hospital ships, hospital trains, base hospitals, recuperation hospitals, field hospitals, evacuation units and camp hospitals (Rees, 2014). The nursing formula needed in wartime remained the same since the American Revolution: one staff member per 10 hospital beds. Initially, the Armed Forces projected the need for a 10,000-strong nursing staff; however, this figure increased four-fold by end-March 1918.
Key areas where nurse capabilities and experience were sought included: anesthesia administration, orthopedics, and psychiatric nursing. The former was recognized as an important resource after the military understood nursing staff’s potential to supplement medical officials’ efforts. This then became one among the foremost areas where the nation’s nursing workforce expanded its practice and was acknowledged as being within nurses’ scope of practice. The nursing workforce of the nation became part of five-to-six-member-strong gas, shock, surgical and orthopedic specialty units that were deployed to ground zero (Rees, 2014; Hallett, 2014). Such units assisted combatants in stabilizing themselves; the absence of such support would mean their endurance of lengthy evacuation processes for accessing such care. Gas teams cared for combat zone patients, shock units administered fluids and whole blood, and surgical units offered chest-focused, orthopedic, maxillofacial and neurosurgical services.
Confronted with the above challenging ground zero responsibility, wartime nursing workers adopted the following ideas which form the crux of modern-day nursing practice: 1) Self-care: This necessitates patients’ self-performance of tasks for regaining autonomy and fostering healing. For instance, a wounded soldier was expected to aid in cleaning his wounds. 2) Infection control: Wartime nursing staff achieved this through thorough cleansing of hospitals and demanding clean linens and other aspects of proper hygiene for patients. This was an amazing thing, as, in that day, the medical field was unfamiliar with the concepts of infection chain and microbes. 3) End-of-life (EOL) nursing – Wartime nursing cared for dying soldiers, comforting them in their final moments. 4) Assessment – Wartime nurses undertook nightly rounds with lamps, interacting with their patients and gauging their condition. This forms the basis of nursing. (5) Therapeutic communication – In the course of their rounds, wartime nursing staff conversed with patients, offering support and sympathy in times of despair (Rees, 2014; Hallett, 2014; McKay, 2014).
Benefits
Firstly, and considering the fact that most nursing workers were female, in exerting significant control for surmounting the prejudices against females on ground zero, these females’ independence and resourcefulness were a stand-out. The earliest American armed forces nursing staff had the following characteristics: a) citizens of America; b) unwed; c) female; d) Caucasian; e) aged 25-35 years; and f) nurse training school graduates who received theoretic and hands-on instruction (Threat, 2015). This workforce demonstrated no fear under fire. Female exclusion in the male-only war domain ensured the sustenance of their inferior standing. Without the nursing franchise, females had no say in the government’s decisions linked to initiating or evading war. Female nursing staff battled against gender restrictions, forging the path for their involvement on ground zero.
Ground-zero nursing staff, especially those who worked in the World War II setting, demonstrated their ability to save lives, making a difference for patients on the field. They demonstrated competent nursing care’s capability of improving patient mortality and morbidity rates. Females were able to capably tackle adverse conditions and proved vital to the armed forces; their efforts were subsequently recognized via ranks and medals. Post-WWII, Julia Stimson become the first female American armed forces major (McKay, 2014). Nursing staff featured among the foremost females to be awarded medals in the armed forces field, as recognition of their valuable, competent performance of patient care in battle zones. Their efforts established that, counter to Victorian civil war-related ideas, females were, in fact, capable of delivering first-rate care to male non-relatives without injuring their reputation or delicate societal sensibilities.
Pre-war America saw the major part of nursing care conducted at home. With the outbreak of the American Civil War, a majority of nurses were soldiers recuperating from the war and churchwomen; the higher calling of the latter ensured they could attend to troops from both warring sides without fear of scandal (Hallett, 2014; McKay, 2014). However, swiftly, this war escalated to great proportions and complexity, with both conflicting governments setting limits on females ready to serve the armed forces. Post- civil war, a few nurse volunteers embarked on speech tours, in addition to penning essays and books that describe soldiers’ gratitude for the compassionate, motherly female touch. Such accounts gave rise to a broad impression that nursing at the time of the War was largely performed by white elite females, thereby obliterating male, African-American, migrant, working class nurses’ roles. Hospital introduction, medical advancements, and the motivation created by wartime nursing accounts combined led to the development of the perfect atmosphere for professional nurse education.
In the course of the First World War, certain nursing requirements were expanded. In this era, and even prior to it, nurses were considered armed forces members. However, they received no training as soldiers, nor were they commissioned or enlisted armed forces members. Their appointments were made, with war secretary approval, by the US Surgeon General (Rees, 2014). In those days, nursing staff were overlooked when it came to awarding military ranks. Diary entries exist of enlisted personnel’s appreciation of, and their compliance with the instructions offered by, these “rank-less” females on the subject of care, particularly if those females displayed innovative problem-solving ability, stamina, and a good sense of humor even when faced with identical wartime deprivations. The governments of France and Britain called for only trained nursing graduates to be sent abroad, not wanting nurse aids to supplant the above nursing requisites (Rees, 2014; Hallett, 2014). Every nurse applicant was taken into consideration separately, particularly with respect to physical examination prior and subsequent to appointment. Consequently, nursing skills as well as the overall nursing profession advanced.
Conclusion
Nurse contributions and experiences during wartime prove just as vital to war history as those of fighting personnel. Army nurse volunteers could assert their independence from their parents and spurn conventional feminine stereotypes; simultaneously, they enjoyed a chance at traveling and kick-starting their career. Nursing perceived as professionalized caring for fellow human beings offers providers requisite experience, knowledge, and skills for delivering their services. The kinds of wounds faced by nurses during the war stand as testimony to their contribution and experience. Wounds differed based on the nurse’s post and medical unit category, but the ghastly memories of gruesome wounds remain consistent all over personal accounts. ICU (intensive care unit) became the norm instead of the exception. In specific, patients with burn injuries left long-lasting impacts on their carers. In conclusion, wartime nurses contributed majorly to nursing profession advancement to its current position, with regard to inpatient care, professional elements and skills, and medical sector technology.







References
Cashin, J. E. (2016). Civil War Nurse Narratives, 1863–1870 by Daneen Wardrop. Ohio Valley History, 16(3), 97-98.
Hallett, C. E. (2014). Veiled warriors: Allied nurses of the First World War. OUP Oxford.
McKay, J. (2014). A women's tribute to war. Fryer Folios, 9(1), 7-9.
Rees, P. (2014). The Other Anzacs: Nurses at War 1914-1918. Allen & Unwin.
Threat, C. J. (2015). Nursing civil rights: Gender and race in the army nurse corps. University of Illinois Press.