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how nursing has changed throughout history
women and the American Civil War north -south counterpoints review
how nursing has changed throughout history
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During the American Civil War, "More than twenty thousand women in the Union and Confederate states engaged in relief work…” (Schultz, 2004). These women had certain professional rights and responsibilities to uphold throughout the Civil War. They broke the common Victorian American tradition and volunteered to be Civil War nurses, something that astounded the nation (USAHEC.org). These battle aids nursed the wounded soldiers and performed other tasks to help the soldiers. However, these women were not accepted right away by male doctors in the hospitals. Some male doctors thought of women as useless (Barton, 1892) and that they "were intruding into their domain and using scarce resources," (Freemon, 1998). Despite the power struggle between the male doctors and women nurses, the women nurses were soon known as “The nurses, consolers, and saviours of men.” (Barton, 1892). Shortly after the Civil War began, both sides realized that they were running short on staffing for their hospitals. Usually, “A working woman was an object of pity or scorn in Victorian America.” (USAHEC.org). Women were usually devoting their lives to caring for their husband and children; creating a nice, clean home (The History Channel Website, 2013). If they did nurse, it was only in their homes and for their family members (Egenes, 2009). The Civil War was the first time that women really played an important role in a war effort (The History Channel Website, 2013). When they found out that each side was in need of nurses, women immediately started volunteering to “help the war efforts of their side” (Freemon, 1998). Most of the women focused on helping wounded and sick soldiers (Freemon, 1998). Women of all ages and social classes nursed both Union and... ... middle of paper ... ...rgingcivilwar.com/2013/09/03/civil-war-nurses-series-interesting-facts-about-northern-nurses/ This is a secondary article about women nurses during the civil war. I used a table on this page for information of various jobs and positions that the women had. “Women in the Civil War.” The History Channel Website. 2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2013. http://www.history.com/topics/women-in-the-civil-war. This is a secondary article about what women did to help fight the war during the Civil War. I used it for information on women nurses and battle aids. Women Nurses in the Civil War." USAHEC.org. The United States Army War College, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. . This is a secondary website article about women nurses during the civil war. I used it for information on the type of tasks performed by women nurses.
Senior Officers were more inclined to have trained male soldiers in preference to female nurses. Major General Howse (Director of Medical Services) has been quoted as saying that “the female nurse (as a substitute for the fully trained male nursing orderly) did little toward the actual saving of life in war... although she might promote a more rapid and complete recovery”. General Howse was speaking at a time when the contribution of the Nursing Service to the treatment of the wounded soldiers, at an early stage, had yet to be recognized by the Australian authorities.
Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott is a semi-fictional depiction of the Civil War in America from her own point of view as a nurse. She creates a character for her self whose name is Tribulation Periwinkle she was a brand new nurse during the Civil War. This story is broken up into three “sketches” the first basically details how Periwinkle became a nurse and her daunting travels to her post in Washington D.C. In the second sketch she details how Periwinkle wanted so badly to be out in the field where the serious injuries were occurring however she was stationed at a temporary hospital in Washington the name of which was the Hurly-Burly House. One of the first tasks Periwinkle is given is to look after and take care of the men who have
For example, further interviews recorded by White in “Remembrance, Retrospection, and the Women’s Land Army in World War I Britain” explained that “priority was given to [women] with agricultural experience” and those who had no experience were obligated to “complete six weeks of training [at] agricultural college” (White 165). As a result of this, the number of women pursuing education in colleges and schools skyrocketed. Furthermore, as war led to an increase in the number of injured men, there was a shortage of nurses, and women swarmed into medical universities to receive their educations so they could serve as nurses. In his “Universities, medical education, and women,” Watts states that when it was observed that women could “join the popular and increasing band of professional nurses … women were striving to gain university admission” (Watts 307). Since women during this time period were accustomed to working at home and taking care of a family, it did not take much time for a notable amount of stay-at-home women to transition to nursing. Since nurses were at such a shortage during a period of war, universities were extremely willing to provide women with education in the medical field. In addition, as men across the country were constantly being deployed to the battlefield, vacancies in
As Spoon River grew the social conflict grew between men and women in contrast to the role women had during the time period. The typical roles of men and women had a very strong line of distinction between them. However with time comes change these roles slowly began to intermix, mostly the role of women began to change. Women become more active in the community and the work place. With women becoming more involved in the jobs such as teachers it led to a very new and different life style. Teachers during this time were mostly men, however with the involvement of women and the racial movement which lead the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote and to end woman suffrage. During the many different wars that the United States got into the wounded was cared for by nurses, which were most of the time women. Women’s roles in the beginning of the 20th century had changed.
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).
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.
The images created by propaganda poster had a dramatic effected on convincing many women to choose nursing as a career and dedicate their efforts to serve their country by enlisting in the Red Cross and the United States military. “Over 350,000 American women volunteered to serve in the armed forces during World War II. More than 59,000 of those women were registered nurses, who volunteered to serve in the United States Army Nurse Corps” (Monahan and Greenlee pg.
brigades and signed up to be nurses. This war forced woman of both sides into the public life.
Over 5000 volunteer nurses’ north and south served in military hospitals during the Civil War. Nurses were of all sorts and came from all over. Women wanted to be involved in this national struggle in any way they could. They did not want to stay home and play their traditional domestic roles that social convention and minimal career opportunities had confined the majority of their sex to. Many women thought of nursing as an extension of their home duties, almost like taking care of “their boys.” They recall the Civil War as a time when their work as nurses made a difference. It gave them an opportunity to prove they had the ability and courage to help.
When the American Civil War began on April 12th, 1861, over 3 million Union and Confederate soldiers prepared for battle. Men from all over America were called upon to support their side in the confrontation. While their battles are well documented and historically analyzed for over a hundred years, there is one aspect, one dark spot missing in the picture: the role of women in the American Civil War. From staying at home to take care of the children to disguising themselves as men to fight on the battlefield, women contributed in many ways to the war effort on both sides. Though very few women are recognized for their vital contributions, even fewer are
When all the men were across the ocean fighting a war for world peace, the home front soon found itself in a shortage for workers. Before the war, women mostly depended on men for financial support. But with so many gone to battle, women had to go to work to support themselves. With patriotic spirit, women one by one stepped up to do a man's work with little pay, respect or recognition. Labor shortages provided a variety of jobs for women, who became street car conductors, railroad workers, and shipbuilders. Some women took over the farms, monitoring the crops and harvesting and taking care of livestock. Women, who had young children with nobody to help them, did what they could do to help too. They made such things for the soldiers overseas, such as flannel shirts, socks and scarves.
During the mid-twentieth century American’s view of nurses was drastically changing according to Judd & Sitzman the authors of “A History of American Nursing: Trends and Eras.” Prior to this time period the job of a nurse was not something that was very valued. The women who chose this work were not looked upon as highly as they are today. Judd & Sitzman write that during this time “nurses were respected, revered, and deemed professionals; they were portrayed in recruitment posters.” Nursing was now a profession women could actually seek to do outside of the home that was not frowned upon. Nursing was now being viewed as a valued profession. The mere fact that there were recruitment posters being created and displayed proves this point.
Their goal was to provided the comfort and needs to help no matter who the soldier was; “Lacking professional training but endlessly resourceful, the volunteer nurses of the Civil War labored tirelessly to bring aid and comfort to the sick and wounded soldiers on both sides of the fighting” (Civil War Nurses, 1). They did the best they could with little information. They wanted to save the soldier’s life and they did all that they could to make this happen. Nurses were behind the scenes and they helped heal the soldiers back to
During the Civil War they really worked towards building more hospitals and it drove the nursing profession to grow and have a large demand for nurses, but they were more like volunteers, such as wives or mistresses who were following their soldier men. Being a war nursing at that time was seen as a job for the lower class and no “respectable” woman could be seen in a military hospital. During the Civil War Phoebe Levy Pember, a young widow, went north to the confederate capital of Richmond. She eventually ran the world’s largest hospital, where on an average day she would supervise the treatment of 15,000 patients who were cared for by nearly 300 slave women. The war then led to a greater respect for nurses which was noticed by Congress. They then passed a bill providing pensions to Civil War nurses, but more importantly this led to the profe...
During the Civil War, women began to feel like part of the work force, but along with it, was the downfall of being considered "service workers", which is very similar to being a servant. Nurses had to suffer through much conformity, as they had to wait hand and foot on male patients, while at the same time being scrutinized by their male "overseers". These issues that nurses faced in the nineteenth century, continue even to this day, with a little more ease, but we are still driven by a patriarchal society that just isn't ready to let go. Through the works of Louisa May Alcott and Charlotte Perkins Gillman, one can see the hardships that Nineteenth century women were faced with when it came to working. These stories bring to light the fact that, by overcoming oppression, through the strength and desire that leads to resistance, women have been able to achieve self-reliance, which makes their "service work" considered to have with it, an achieved independence. These stories show us the struggles that women faced in the nin...