Nursing During the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was the longest war ever fought by U.S. military forces. U.S. personnel were engaged from 1961 until 1973. Approximately 10,000 U.S. military women served in Vietnam during the war. Most were members of the Army, Navy, and Air Force Nurse Corps. All of the Army nurses were volunteers who attended a six-week basic training class, and then were assigned to one-year stunts in Vietnam hospitals and mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) units. Most of these nurses were fresh out of nursing school, some with less than six months of clinical experience. These nurses were not prepared for the physical and emotional wounds that they would have to heal.
Clearly the role of women stationed in Vietnam was quite different from that of the fighting soldier. In primarily medical positions, their major duties were to heal and provide nurturing to severely wounded and/or dying combat soldiers. This function was made more complicated by the fact that the nurses, many of whom were straight out of nursing school, were only a few years older than the wounded they cared for. These nurses were looked up to and took on the role as a "big sister" with their patients, providing psychological as well as medical comfort. The nurses were expected to be emotionally strong as well as physically strong. "Somehow, it was considered a lack of competence if they felt psychologically devastated by particular events of the accumulation of experiences related to the terrible wounds and deaths with which they had to deal" (Scannell-Desch, 2). This created the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that was a common disorder shared between the Vietnam nurses.
Besides clinical inexperience being a major problem causin...
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...book. It was very detailed when it came to the wars that the nurses had to volunteer in, because if it wasn't for the nurses, most of the soldiers would have died. Not only did this book cover nurses, it covered the beginning of nursing (Florenece Henderson) until the present day (1996). It explained new techniques and great methods of nursing compared to the past.
Hillstrom, Kevin and Hillstrom, L.C. (1998). The Vietnam Experience: a Concise Encyclopedia of American Literature, Songs and Films. Wesport, CT: Greenwood Press, Inc.
This was an encyclopedia about the Vietnam War. It had a specific section about the women and nurses and the physical and emotional effects the war and soldiers had on them. It had specific sections on many other things such as soldiers, weapons, etc. It was very informative, and gave great detail about women and nursing.
In particular, the use of Florence Nightingale’s theory of nursing as the basis of my new practice had allowed me to begin with the basics and work my way forward toward a more modern and holistic approach to nursing care. While Florence’s work focused mainly on the military and her care of soldiers, she began to establish schools of nursing to promote nursing education and to encourage people to view nursing as a viable profession, (Alligood, 2014. 63). Nightingale’s focus may have been care of the military, but she made great strides on getting recognition for nursing and her theories still affect the practice of nursing today. In the article, Nurses as Leaders, the author proposes that nurse leaders have made great strides since Nightingale’s time when nurses were conscripted to help care for wounded soldiers. Such a setting required these early nurse pioneers to rely on critical thinking and quick action in order to save lives. The author goes on to discuss how a change in nursing occurred in the early 20th century as new management styles emerged, most notable the “Scientific Management,” model. This style placed doctors at the top, then nurse managers, and on down to bedside care staff. Though this did allow some nurses the ability to move upward, nurses resented a doctor being in charge of their teams as the work of a physician and that of a nurse are two very different practices, ("Nurses as Leaders," 2016). This is quite different from the modern concept of a nurse executive as leader of
Smith, Winnie. American Daughter Gone to War, On the Front Lines withan Army Nurse in Vietnam. New York: William, Morrow, and Company, Inc., 1992.
The purpose of this essay was to inform, and explain the trials and accomplishments our brave Nations United States Army Corps Women Nurses went through. They were amazing women valiant in their duties, training to better help their fellow servicemen. They risked their lives at times, and for the common good of the war effort. “WOMEN WHO STEPPED UP WERE MEASURED AS CITIZENS OF THE NATION, NOT AS WOMEN THIS IS A PEOPLES WAR AND EVERYONE WAS IN IT.”(Quote from the World War II memorial in Hawaii).
The Vietnam War holds a different meaning for people both young and old. The longest known US war lasted a solid eighteen years. Some would describe the war as a puzzle since not everyone was for the war. At the age of 21 Tim O’Brien was drafted for the Vietnam War. He states that The Things They Carried is a way for readers to feel what he felt during the war. The key experiences and emotions that he wants the reader to feel are frustration, not being able to find your enemy, having soldiers all around you losing their life, and being upset about being in a war in which you yourself do not believe in. Now forty years later after the Vietnam War first started O’Brien is left with face-less responsibility and face-less grief. He says it best himself “You bring war back home with you. The things you carried in the war are also things you brought back home.”
Ninh, Bảo, and Frank Palmos. The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam. New York: Riverhead, 1996. Print.
Women who wanted to play a more active role could serve as nurses. This poster showed nursing as the natural extension of motherhood. A Red Cross nurse, “our greatest mother,” shelters a young girl from the war raging in the background. “Our Greatest Mother,” play an active role as nurses during the war.
Women Nurses in the Civil War." USAHEC.org. The United States Army War College, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. .
Registered nurses came through a long way back to the 19th century, when they used to provide care to the injured soldiers and other injures strangers. Florence Nightingale was the first influenced in this career. She was a daughter of a British family who worked her life to improve the field of nursing. Her main goal was to spread this field throughout the countries. As a success the first school was in the United States, in Boston. Then later it was passed to New York and others states. In today’s society we are still acknowledge to her great work. And improve the medical field for a better upgrade towards today’s society and generation.
In this investigation, the personal side of the soldiers who fought in the Vietnam war will be examined- particularly the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that were most common in veterans, and the different experiences in the war or after returning home that could have caused them. The types of warfare, deaths, and differences from methods used in the Vietnam War will be discussed. Technological advancements and mindsets of the different times of the wars will be taken into account. The definition of PTSD and descriptions of different general causes will be mentioned, as well. Different accounts from veterans and reports on PTSD Vietnam War veteran victims will be analyzed for individual cases and examples. Sources used will include Wounds of War by Herbert Hendin and Ann Pollinger Haas and information on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the National Institute of Mental Health’s website.
Women in the Vietnam War had numerous roles they had to fulfill both physically and mentally. For example in the story "Sweetheart of the song Tra Bong" the character Mary Anne is flown down by her boyfriend to Vietnam. She is dressed in "White culottes and a sexy pink sweater" which is very traditional for a woman (O'Brien 90). Right of the bat the men were attracted to her and was especially liked when she wore her cut-off blue jeans and a swimsuit top that was black (95). In this instance she was representing a traditional feminine role in her dress and her actions. Traditionally women the war were nurses, Women worked for the Red Cross or worked in other types of medical facility. Also you found women who were on the Clerical staff and who were Support Personnel. Only on a few occasions did you find a woman who actually fought in the war. Two women from another source stated that "Women served alongside men in that sink-pit of War."
Bao Ninh's The Sorrow of War is a contrapuntal reading to American literature on the Vietnam War. But rather than stand in stark contrast to Tim O' Brien's The Things They Carried, The Sorrow of War is strangely similar, yet different at the same time. From a post-colonialist standpoint, one must take in account both works to get an accurate image of the war. The Sorrow of War is an excellent counterpoint because it is truthful. Tim O' Brien writes: ". . . you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil." (O' Brien, 42) Bao Ninh succeeds in this respect. And it was for this reason that the Vietnamese government initially banned The Sorrow of War. A thorough textual and historical examination of both the war and post-war experience of Vietnam reveals that its experience was similar to, if not worse than, that of America.
During World War I and World War II, America called upon thousands of women to become nurses for their country to help in hospitals and overseas units. America’s calling was considered a success and by the end of World War I, 23,000 nurses served in Army and Navy cantonments and hospitals, 10,000 served overseas, and 260 either died in the line of duty or from the influenza pandemic (“Nursing Reflections”, 2000, p. 18). In the early 1930s, nurses experienced the devastation of the depression. Families were very poor and unable to feed themselves let alone pay for a nursing visit. This caused many nurses to seek work elsewhere. Nurses who were lucky to be empl...
The story of America’s military woman can be traced to the birth of our nation. During the American Revolutionary War, the 18th and 19th centuries, where women served informally as nurses, seamstresses, cooks, and even as spies and were subject to Army’s rules of Conduct. Though not in uniform, these women shared soldier’s hardships including inadequate housing and little compensation. Women have formally been part of the U.S Armed Forces since the Inception of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. In 1973 the transition to the All-Volunteer Force marked a dramatic increase in the opportunities available for women to serve in the military. As of September 30, 2009, the total number of active duty women in the U.S was 203, 375, and women made up 14.3 percent of the U.s armed forces (Robinson). Women are a crucial role in c...
From a global perspective, many readers and movie viewers worldwide know only about how American’s have suffered and the amount of pain our war veterans have endured as a result of the war. American films such as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Thin Red Line, and We Were Soldiers to name a few, are all Vietnam War movies that portray the loss and suffering of American life. The traditional American made movie or novel about Vietnam fails to show the human side of the struggles that the Vietnamese people both from the north and the south went through....
...o not receive the credit they deserve. This group of women is known as the civilian women in Vietnam. It actually is not known how many women are in this group, but it is known that the number is quite significant. Many of these women worked on behalf of the American Red Cross, Army Special Services, United States Organizations, Peace Corps, and varies religious groups such as Catholic Relief Services. Many of these members did not actually stay in Vietnam, many of them traveled abroad. The women who volunteered with the Army Special Services worked operating libraries, service clubs and even shops. These shops were meant to boost the enthusiasm of the military men deployed in Vietnam. Some other women would travel and work as a journalism, keeping track of the war and involvement of the soldiers. There were 59 female civilians whom actually died in the Vietnam War.