Military nurse

Last updated
Recruitment poster, World War II "Nurses are needed now. Army Nurse Corps." - NARA - 513647.jpg
Recruitment poster, World War II

Most professional militaries employ specialised military nurses or nursing sisters. [1] They are often organised as a distinct nursing corps. Florence Nightingale formed the first nucleus of a recognised Nursing Service for the British Army during the Crimean War in 1854. In the same theatre of the same war, Professor Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov and the Grand Duchess Yelena Pavlovna originated Russian traditions of recruiting and training military nurses – associated especially with besieged Sevastopol (1854–1855). Following the war Nightingale fought to institute the employment of women nurses in British military hospitals, and by 1860 she had succeeded in establishing an Army Training School for military nurses at the Royal Victoria Military Hospital in Netley, Hampshire, England. [2]

Contents

In 1898, after the Spanish-American War, the United States added 1,500 nurses to their military personnel (Brooks, 2018). A year later in 1899, the Surgeon General recognized the importance of these nurses and established a "reserve group" of nurses with specific criteria to prepare for future wars. Military nurses are similar to floor nurses in that they spend most of their time providing direct patient care. Patient assessments, medication distribution, interventions and documentation are part of their daily work. These nurses are needed at all military bases, active war zones, clinics and front lines – not always on United States territory.[ citation needed ]

Well-known nursing corps

Educational Requirements

According to Nguh (2020), for nursing officers to serve in the military it normally requires a Bachelor's degree in Nursing. For example, a branch known as the Air National Guard, allows an individual to join as enlisted and work as a Aeromedical Evacuation Technician while finishing their BSN degree. The military branch will pay for the individuals BSN and after graduation the nurse can earn a salary as a 2nd Lieutenant contingent upon successfully passing their nursing boards. [3]

Challenges to working as a military nurse

Nurses can often experience challenges when delivering care to patients when they do not have the appropriate supplies, medicines, and equipment that is normally available in American hospitals [4] A study was conducted in Camp Bastion Hospital in Afghanistan, where 18 British Armed Forces nurses were interviewed. These nurses serves in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014 and it was found that nurses often experienced many psychological stressors such as lacking family support, suffering from mental health issues, experiencing separation anxiety, missing their families and friends, feeling unprepared and not able to take care of seriously injured patients, and nurses found it emotionally difficult taking care of terminally ill patients. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Registered nurse</span> Nurse who has graduated from a nursing program

A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to obtain a nursing license. An RN's scope of practice is determined by legislation, and is regulated by a professional body or council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Nightingale</span> English social reformer, statistician, and founder of modern nursing

Florence Nightingale was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers at Constantinople. She significantly reduced death rates by improving hygiene and living standards. Nightingale gave nursing a favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Maxwell</span> American nursing pioneer

Anna Caroline Maxwell, was a nurse who came to be known as "the American Florence Nightingale". Her pioneering activities were crucial to the growth of professional nursing in the United States.

Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other medical professionals who have qualified or experienced for educational tasks, traditionally in Nursing schools. Most countries offer nurse education courses that can be relevant to general nursing or to specialized areas including mental health nursing, pediatric nursing and post-operatory nursing. Courses leading to autonomous registration as a nurse typically last four years. Nurse education also provides post-qualification courses in specialist subjects within nursing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps</span> Nursing arm of the British Army

Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps is the nursing branch of the British Army Medical Services.

Nursing in the United Kingdom has a long history. The current form of nursing is often considered as beginning with Florence Nightingale who pioneered modern nursing. Nightingale initiated formal schools of nursing in the United Kingdom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The role and perception of nursing has dramatically changed from that of a handmaiden to the doctor to professionals in their own right. There are over 500,000 nurses in the United Kingdom and they work in a variety of settings, such as hospitals, health centres, nursing homes, hospices, communities, and academia, with most working for the National Health Service (NHS). Nurses work across all demographics and requirements of the public: adults, children, mental health, and learning disability. Nurses work in a range of specialties from the broad areas of medicine, surgery, theatres, and investigative sciences such as imaging. Nurses also work in large areas of sub-specialities such as respiratory, diabetes, neurology, infectious diseases, liver, research, cardiac, and stoma. Nurses often work in multi-disciplinary teams but increasingly are found working independently.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nursing in Australia</span> Overview of nursing in Australia

Nursing in Australia has evolved in training and regulation since the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Catherine Stimson</span>

Julia Catherine Stimson was an American nurse, credited as one of several persons who brought nursing to the status of a profession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military medicine</span> A medical specialty attending to soldiers, sailors and other service members

The term military medicine has a number of potential connotations. It may mean:

The word "nurse" originally came from the Latin word "nutrire", meaning to suckle, referring to a wet-nurse; only in the late 16th century did it attain its modern meaning of a person who cares for the infirm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nursing</span> Health care profession

Nursing is a profession within the healthcare sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other healthcare providers by their approach to patient care, training, and scope of practice. Nurses practice in many specialties with differing levels of prescription authority. Nurses comprise the largest component of most healthcare environments; but there is evidence of international shortages of qualified nurses. Nurses collaborate with other healthcare providers such as physicians, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, and psychologists. Unlike nurse practitioners, nurses typically cannot prescribe medications in the US. Nurse practitioners are nurses with a graduate degree in advanced practice nursing. They practice independently in a variety of settings in more than half of the United States. Since the postwar period, nurse education has undergone a process of diversification towards advanced and specialized credentials, and many of the traditional regulations and provider roles are changing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Army Nurse Corps</span> Military unit

The United States Army Nurse Corps (USANC) was formally established by the U.S. Congress in 1901. It is one of the six medical special branches of officers which – along with medical enlisted soldiers – comprise the Army Medical Department (AMEDD). The ANC is the nursing service for the U.S. Army and provides nursing staff in support of the Department of Defense medical plans. The ANC is composed entirely of Registered Nurses (RNs).

Nursing in India is the practice of providing care for patients, families, and communities in that nation to improve health and quality of life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacred Twenty</span>

The Sacred Twenty were a group of nurses who were the first female members to ever formally serve in the United States Navy representing the Nurse Corps. Officially formed in 1908, the Sacred Twenty made broad contributions during wartime, not only including training of field nurses and disease treatment, but also providing education programs for nurses abroad and professional publications to the field of nursing.

The history of nursing in the United Kingdom relates to the development of the profession since the 1850s. The history of nursing itself dates back to ancient history, when the sick were cared for in temples and places of worship. In the early Christian era, nursing in the United Kingdom was undertaken by certain women in the Christian Church, their services being extended to patients in their homes. These women had no real training by today's standards, but experience taught them valuable skills, especially in the use of herbs and folk drugs, and some gained fame as the physicians of their era. Remnants of the religious nature of nurses remains in Britain today, especially with the retention of the job title "Sister" for a senior female nurse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of nursing in the United States</span> Professionalization of nursing since the Civil War

The history of nursing in the United States focuses on the professionalization of nursing since the Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham</span> Temporary NHS COVID-19 hospital set up in NEC Birmingham

The NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham was the second of the temporary NHS Nightingale Hospitals set up by NHS England to help to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. It was constructed inside the National Exhibition Centre, Solihull, and opened on 16 April 2020. It cost £66.4 million to set up and was the most expensive of all the Nightingale temporary hospitals. On 1 April 2021 the hospital closed without ever treating a patient.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Becher</span> British nurse (1867–1948)

Dame Ethel Hope Becher was a British nurse who served as the War Office matron-in-chief of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps from 1910 to 1919, including World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Kefford</span> Senior British Army nurse

Carol Margaret Kefford is a British nurse who has served as Clinical Director and Chief Nurse for Nuffield Health and since 2017 is a Colonel Commandant of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC). She is currently the Chief Nursing Executive for HCA Healthcare UK.

References

  1. Chenier, Nancy Miller; Toman, Cynthia (16 February 2022). "Nursing Sisters". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com. Historica Canada. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  2. QARANC - Our History
  3. Nguh, Jonas (July 2020). "Military Nursing: One Guardsman's Perspective". 21 (3): 15.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Nguh, Jonas (July 2020). "Military Nursing: One Guardsman's Perspective". 21 (3): 15.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Finnegan, A; Lauder, W; McKenna, H. "The challenges and psychological impact of delivering nursing care within a war zone". 64 (5): 450–458.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)