Nurses In Nursing

During times of war, the needs of the country have historically shifted. By the end of World War I, army nurses had become a critical component to the function of the military. Many of our countries women had begun serving as nurses during World War I, with as many as 21,000 army and 1,386 navy nurses (Egenes, n.d., p.16). The supply of nurses dwindled, and the demand remained increased as the war continued. As a result, the American Red Cross Department of Nursing began recruitment of additional nurses, looking beyond the traditional nursing school graduates. Patriotic women and volunteers were used where possible and increased attempts were made to assemble women with college degrees into military nursing (Egenes, n.d., p.16). By 1923, the Goldmark Report was issued, essentially stating that nursing schools needed to have educational standards, and the necessity for education to be performed at the university level (Egenes, n.d., p.19). The paradigm of nursing and its educational approach was changing to meet the needs of the nation. Nursing during the following decade endured many changes and was greatly influenced by the economical state of the country following the war, onset of the Great Depression, and rising of another world war.

Early licensure regulation had begun as early as 1901 in some states, and by 1921, nearly all of the country had adopted these laws. Egenes (n.d.) stated the purpose of this nurse practice act was to stipulate registered nurse licensure (p. 13). Although this was a landmark for the nursing profession, this law was permissive instead of mandatory. This lead to nurses who where unlicensed still being able to practice as long as they did not use the name “registered nurse” (Egenes, n.d., ...

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...ed and World War II began, graduate nurses had become a mainstay in hospitals. The advances in new technology and specialized medicine increased the demand for professional nurses. Educational standards for nursing were being implemented; public health nursing had become a major focus. The profession of nursing had entered its next phase of development (Bodie, April 2012). There was still a very real shortage of nurses as World War II began posing a very serious problem. There was a trend developing that had been demonstrated during wartime, there was an increased need for nurses in order to serve the armed forces (Whelan, 2014). By the end of World War II, it was estimated that over 77,000 nurses had joined the military, but as Whelan states in her article, this created a compromised civilian population of nurses. Once again the cycle was repeating itself.