Nursing Contributions and Benefits During War Research Paper

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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.

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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….....

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