The History of Nursing During Wartime

Nurses have been vital to the health care of soldiers in every American conflict. The experience of nurses during wartime aided in the professionalization of nursing. Wars have also created famous figures of nursing, such as Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton.

Early Period

• During the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the colonial army paid women to nurse wounded soldiers, but soldiers and stewards were also given nursing duties.

Professionalization

• Women, who were untrained, volunteered as nurses during the Civil War (1861-1865). According to Barbara Cherry and Susan R. Jacob, authors of "Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends, and Management," 2,000 women served the Union army in nursing capacities. Veteran nurses helped found the first American schools of nursing in New York and Boston.

Specialization

• The U.S. Army first started training nurses during World War I (1917-1918). Cherry and Jacob explain that World War I also helped introduce specialization into nursing. For instance, the first nurse anesthetists appeared during World War I.

Military Nurses

• During World War II (1941-1945), nurses became a permanent part of the Army and began undergoing basic training before shipping overseas. By the Vietnam War (1959-1975), the Navy and Air Force had permanent nurse corps as well.

Famous Figures

• Perhaps the most famous wartime nurse is Florence Nightingale, a British woman who put nursing on a scientific basis during the Crimean War (1853-1856). In the United States, Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton are well-known nurses who served during the Civil War. Dix organized military hospitals while Barton nursed soldiers on the front lines. Barton went on to found the American Red Cross.