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Life in the Army Nurse Corps

The female nurses who served in the Spanish American War paved the way for the establishment of the Army Nurse Corps. Convinced by the skills and intelligence of the nurses who worked in the Spanish American War, a report was submitted in 1899. In it Surgeon General George Sternberg together with Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee requested for the establishment of a bill to form the Nurse Corps. The first Army Nurse Corps was established in 1901 by the US Congress.

Prior to the formation of Army Nurse Corps, nurses were paid through contracts through Army controlled and regulated agencies. Some were also paid through private and voluntary organizations. The formation of the Nurse Corps allowed nurses to be appointed for a three year period. The rules changed in 1947 and nurses could then be commissioned as officers in the army. In 1901, 220 nurses were on active duty, and a former contract nurse Dita H. Kinney was appointed as the Superintendent of the Corps.

WWII Army Nurses by David Foster: Flickr

Daily Duties

Army nurses would start out in 4 weeks of basic training before being shipped to where they were needed most. Basic training included hours of classes, strenuous physical activity and wartime scenario training. Army nurses were also trained to set up and take down mobile hospitals and would be required to move these camps at a moments notice. They slept, ate and lived the same unglamorous life of soldiers. Nurses provided comfort and maternal care for soldiers who were scared, wounded and dying. These women reminded men of being back home, provided them with emotional support, encouragement and hope. Many of these nurses saved the lives of soldiers by being vigil by their bedside and not letting them give up. Some became overwhelmed by the amount of bloodshed they had to see on a daily basis while others became numb to it. Surgical nurses would assist doctors by prepping the patients and getting together the surgical tools needed. They would also keep accurate records of each and every soldier who was cared for and his progress.

Dangers

Army nurses provided care to the wounded in wars, increasing the survival rates of wounded soldiers by 96%. In doing their duty, the nurses suffered the dangers of wars. During the Battle of the Philippines at the outset of World War II, 66 army nurses were captured and they served as prisoner of wars. They were released in 1945 after suffering years of hardship.During World War I, there were around twenty thousand registered nurses working in military. These women were not allowed to do duty on the front lines so no nurse perished due to injury in war. However, around 200 died due to the influenza epidemic. During World War II, 201 army nurses were killed by enemy action.

During the Revolutionary War, medical service was provided in a scattered manner. It was provided regiment wise and there was no centrally managed system until 1812. The Surgeon General could appoint army nurses up until 1861. During the Civil War, many women served in the union hospitals where the nurses were sponsored by the United States Sanitary Commission or volunteering agencies. During the Spanish American War, graduate nurses were hired in the army by Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee. The first permanent Army Nurse Corps was established in 1901. Army nurses served in World War I and World War II. In 1941, 1000 army nurse and 700 navy nurse corps were serving at the hospitals. By 1943, 36,607 army nurses were on duty and later army nurses were deployed in Korea and Vietnam. In 1956, US army nurses were deployed in Vietnam to train South Vietnamese nurses to provide better nursing care to MAAG personnel.

The Army Nurse Corps was headed by a superintendent since 1908. The first Superintendent of Army Nurses was Dorothea Dix who was appointed at the beginning of the Civil War. At the same time, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker served as civilian nurse and later as first female surgeon. Anna Caroline Maxwell and Adah Belle Thoms also made significant contributions in forming the Army Nurse Corps. LT Diane Carlson Evans was the founder of Vietnam Woman’s Memorial Foundation.

Nursers during the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1908 by Otis Historical Archives: Flickr

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