Essay On Nurses In World War 1

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World War I was a great event that played an important role in the placement and advancement of women within the military. It showed that women were not only able to perform duties supporting military troops, but that their own enrolment in the military was valuable. This was truer when discussing nurses and the service and the care that they provided the U.S. military with. During the War both the Navy and the Army allowed women to be more involved. According to the U.S. Army, the Nurse Corps had approximately 403 nurses that were on duty at the beginning of the war and 170 nurses that were on standby. At the beginning of the war the Navy Nurse Corps offered over 160 on duty nurses. That number was very small in comparison to the Army. It…show more content…
They treated numerous types of injuries, infections and gas burns. They were also faced with soldiers that were dealing with emotional injuries as well as shell-shock. Nurses cared for patients near the front lines and just far enough behind. You could find them at field hospitals, or clearing houses. There were nurses that even drove ambulances. World War I brought about many changes in the world of medical care and medicines that we use. The value of cleanliness and its connection with reduced infections was a major step forward in the business of saving lives. Blood transfusions were one of the newer treatments at this time along with other various medicines, such as Dakin Solution. It is an antiseptic solution made using diluted boric acid and sodium hypochlorite. It was typical used to wash wounds before closing. Some of those diseases and disease causing thing that nurses face were, pest infestation, trench foot, trench mouth and mustard gas burns. Another major hurtle was the flu pandemic. It was deadlier than the war itself and was responsible for most of the deaths that involved nurses. During this time there were over two hundred Army nurses that died on active

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