World War 2 Nurse Research Paper

World War II Nurses

In World War II there were 59,000 nurses serving. That is 14,863 more people than the Coeur d’Alene population today. These people were giving their time to take care of the people who were fighting for our freedom and rights as a human. The Army Nurse Corps During World War II states,”World War II was the largest and most violent armed conflict of history of mankind.” The World War II nurses are not recognized nearly enough for all of their time and courage they put in. Black Army nurses, the requirements they had to go through, and there are many things a lot of people don't know.

To begin with, humans today don't think of Black Army Nurses being different than any other nurses, but back in the 1940s Black Army nurses
had many different restrictions. Out of 59,000 nurses, there were only 479 black nurses because of segregation.(“Nursing and Medicine During World War II”) In the year 1943, there were only 160 black nurses allowed.(“Nursing and Medicine During World War II”) Also in 1943, because of poor health and low morale , they were recalled late.(“Nursing and medicine during World War II”) Some of the nurses were sent to the U.S. hospitals, but some were sent to hospitals in Tagap and Burma.(“Nursing and Medicine During World War II”) People believed blacks could only attend to “their kind.” This meant only black nurses could attend to black patients that were in need. Even though this seems silly, they took this very seriously just because of the color of someone’s skin.

Secondly, people didn’t just hire nurses whenever they needed them.
The nurses had certain requirements. Before the year 1943 any special military training was not required, but in July 1943, as a nurse, you had to go through training to build up your endurance.(“The Army Nurse Corps”) You could not be any younger than 21, and no older than 40.(“The Army Nurse Corps”) You also had to be a natural born U.S. citizen.(“The Army Nurse Corps”) You could not have any children under the age of 14. (“The Army Nurse Corps”) People believed nursing back then was just was if you knew how to take care of a patient you were hired, but that was definitely not the
case.

Lastly,Have you ever thought of World War II nurses?
Probably not. there are tons of interesting facts about them that you most likely don't know. The hospitals, most of the time, were overwhelmed by wounded soldiers.(“The Army Nurse Corps”) so there were usually soldiers, lying in pools of blood, waiting to be operated.(“The Army Nurse Corps”) The nurses and doctors that would operate would pass the same scissors back and forth without sanitizing them.(“The Army Nurse Corps”) They also operated without gloves.(“The Army Nurse Corps”) These things let to many diseases and infections. Also, after the attack on Pearl Harbor only 82 nurses were stationed in Hawaii, serving at three army medical facilities.(“12 Interesting Facts About Military Nurses”) It is so crazy to think that all of this just happened 72 years ago, and now we have all of this technology so we can help our wounded
warriors.

There were many requirements for all nurses no matter their race that were super important and interesting. People today don't give nearly enough credit to the people that were fighting for our freedom, but we definitely do not think of the people that treated the wounded warriors. Our heros. Our nurses. I feel at peace and safe when I think of these nurses that gave their time to take of the people that were fighting for us and our country. Now do you understand why these World War II nurses were so important? Not only did they save lives of others, but technically that meant they were fighting for us.