United States Army Nurse Corps
The United States Army Nurse Corps ( USANC ) is a unit of the United States Army with a strength of approximately 11,000 soldiers . USANC is the U.S. Army's nursing unit and provides nursing staff in support of the United States Department of Defense . It consists entirely of nurses who have graduated from officer level nursing and is part of the Army Medical Department (AMEDD)
The USANC was formally established by the US Congress in 1901 and was the first unit in which women served as soldiers in the US Army.
history
Nursing care until 1901
Nurses served in George Washington's Army during the American Revolutionary War . Even if the women who cared for the wounded and sick were not yet professional nurses in the current sense, they paved the way for future generations, until finally in 1873 civil hospitals opened schools for nurses. After the War of Independence, medical care for soldiers was severely restricted by Congress. Care was given to seconded soldiers from the individual companies. Until the British-American War there was no centralized medical care or organized medical department. The Army Medical Department , headed by Surgeon General Joseph Lovell , was established by Congress under the Reorganization Act of 1818 and marks the beginning of the modern medical division of the US Army .
Two months after the Civil War began on April 12, 1861, Secretary of War Simon Cameron appointed Dorothea Lynde Dix as head of female nurses for the Union Army . Some of the women who signed up for duty received brief nursing training. The course was led by Elizabeth Blackwell , the first woman to graduate from medical school in the United States. Some of the women who worked in the Union hospitals were not paid by the army but supported by the United States Sanitary Commission or volunteer organizations. Their work was largely limited to preparing food, distributing donations or doing household chores.
During the Spanish-American War of 1898, the army hired civilian female nurses to care for the wounded. In total, more than 1,500 women served during this war. Anita Newcomb McGee was named Senior Assistant Surgeon and pursued the goal of a permanent nursing unit after the war. She wrote the section of the Army Reorganization Act that introduced USANC and is considered to be the association's founder.
Race and gender initially played an important role. USANC was reserved exclusively for white women and fought hard until 1947 to exclude or limit the number of women of color. Men were also excluded until the Korean War . Only the influence of male doctors, who urgently needed nursing support at the front, changed that.
1901-1917
During the era of progressivism , professionalization became a central issue; Experience and training were valued more than the spontaneous volunteers of the past. The all-female USANC became a permanent corps of the medical department under the Army Reorganization Act (31 Stat. 753) of February 2, 1901. Nurses were hired for a period of three years, but were not commissioned as officers in the regular armed forces ; that did not change until April 16, 1947. Dita H. Kinney was appointed as the first superintendent of the Corps on March 15, 1901 and held this post until she resigned on July 31, 1909.
The number of nurses on active duty fluctuated around 100 in the early years of USANC, the two largest groups serving in the hospital at the Presidio Military Base in San Francisco and the First Reserve Hospital in Manila .
First World War
At the First World War, the Americans were involved in 1917 and the 1918th The military recruited 20,000 army and navy nurses. These women served in 58 military hospitals and 47 ambulance units on the Western Front . More than 10,000 women served overseas while 5,400 sisters enrolled in training at the new Army School of Nursing , led by Annie Goodrich . Directional decisions for the Corps were made by Jane Delano , director of the Red Cross Nursing Service , Mary Adelaide Nutting , president of the American Federation of Nurses , and Annie Goodrich.
1919-1940
After the war, the two corps were reduced to rump crews, with the aim of being increased again in the event of war. Only white, unmarried, volunteer and registered nurses were admitted. In 1920 the sisters were given officer ranks. Similar to the other ranks of the army, they wore this rank on their uniform, but they did not receive the same wages and were not considered part of the army.
Second World War
In War Military history of the United States during World War II in December 1941 less than 1000 nurses in USANC and about 700 sisters were in the Navy ( United States Navy Nurse Corps ).
The increase in the number of sisters was coordinated with the Red Cross, only unmarried women between 22 and 30 years of age with a nursing qualification from a civil nursing school were accepted and committed for the duration of the war plus 6 months. Women who got married or became pregnant were released.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States took part in the Pacific War and needed nursing staff in China . These sisters were recruited from among the Chinese population, particularly English-speaking nurses from Hong Kong who had fled the Japanese invasion of free China.
Only a handful of African American nurses were admitted to the USANC. Mabel Keaton Staupers , who worked for the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses , got help from Eleanor Roosevelt to get the army to accept black nurses in 1941. The first black nurse to be recruited under the new policy in April 1941 was Second Lieutenant Della H. Raney . The quota for black sisters was 48 women in 1941. These caregivers were largely segregated . In 1943 the quota was increased to 160 sisters. That same year, the first African American medical unit, the 25th Station Hospital Unit , was relocated to Liberia . Black sisters were later sent to Burma to care for African American soldiers. The women also served in China , Australia , New Guinea , Great Britain, and the Philippines . At the end of the war there were 476 African American nurses in the USANC.
Finally, on February 26, 1944, Congress decided to give women in USANC and USNNC actual military ranks for the duration of the war plus six months. By the end of the war, 54,000 nurses were serving in the Army and Army Air Forces (AAF) and 11,000 nurses in the Navy. 217 black nurses served in all-African American medical units. Much more men served as paramedics (medics) who took over routine care under the supervision of the officers as nursing assistants.
A comparatively large number of women served as part of the auxiliary forces of the Women's Army Corps and the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron in the military hospitals. Medical advances significantly improved survival rates for the wounded: 96 percent of the 670,000 wounded soldiers and sailors who made it to a field hospital survived their wounding. Amputations due to gangrene were rare; Penicillin and sulfonamides clearly showed their effect here. The nurses were heavily involved in post-operative care, evacuations, and new techniques in anesthesia and psychiatry .
Korean War
During the Korean War , Army Nurses were deployed in Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH) and additional hospitals in Japan and Korea . The nurses worked on the front lines to care for the wounded by UN forces within minutes or hours of their injury. In September 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while vacationing near Denver. He was admitted to the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center . During the six weeks it took to recover, he chatted with his USANC nurses. He found that the sisters were housed worse, moved more slowly and were shipped overseas more often than the male soldiers. In addition, women were forced to quit duty at 55. The President ordered a brigadier general to be appointed as head of the unit and the discrimination to be abolished.
Vietnam War
From 1955 men were also admitted to the USANC; the first man in USANC was Edward LT Lyon. During the Vietnam War , many USANC nurses were deployed in Southeast Asia . They worked in all the major army hospitals in the area, including Cam Ranh Bay , Da Nang, and Saigon . Vietnam was the first theater of war to use men as caregivers. They were mainly used in more dangerous places than women. Many Army Nurses experienced enemy fire for the first time in Vietnam and several of them died from direct fire. A female army nurse was also killed by enemy fire, several other women from USANC died in Vietnam from helicopter and plane crashes and from illness.
The modern nurse corps
USANC continues to be an integral part of the Army Medical Department . The operational training usually takes place in Fort Sam Houston , Texas . In the meantime, the USANC has become a highly professional working environment; at least a bachelor's degree in one of the nursing sciences is required for employment. The obligation of at least three years of service is mandatory. The US Army ensures that this unit is continuously trained; almost all additional training courses for medical specialists are offered. The nurses in this unit are among the most highly qualified nursing staff in the world, their level of knowledge and training cannot be compared with that of a nurse working in civil nursing. In addition to the nursing care of her comrades, her area of responsibility includes primarily treatment care, in particular the training of medical personnel, humanitarian and disaster relief, the organization and coordination of military hospitals and hospitals in crisis areas as well as the emergency medical care of trauma under war conditions. Around a third of the nurses are male, the Army Nurses are deployed all over the world, especially in humanitarian missions. Chief of USANC has been Brig. Gen. Jack M. Davis.
Superintendents and Chiefs
From its establishment in 1901 to 1947, the corps was headed by a female superintendent. The nurses were not promoted to officer rank until April 16, 1947, when the Army-Navy Nurses Act came into effect, permanently setting nurses to officer rank. The USANC has been led by a chief with at least the rank of colonel since 1947 .
List of Superintendents of the Army Nurse Corps
| Dita H. Kinney | (March 1901 | - July 1909) | |
| Jane A. Delano | (August 1909 | - March 1912) | |
| Isabel McIsaac | (April 1912 | - September 1914) | |
| Dora E. Thompson | (September 1914 | - December 1919) | |
| Julia C. Stimson | (December 1919 | - May 1937) | |
| Julia O. Flikke | (June 1937 | - June 1943) | |
| Florence A. Blanchfield | (July 1943 | - September 1947) |
List of Chiefs of the Army Nurse Corps
| COL Mary G. Phillips | (October 1947 | - September 1951) | |
| COL Ruby F. Bryant | (October 1951 | - September 1955) | |
| COL Inez Haynes | (October 1955 | - August 1959) | |
| COL Margaret Harper | (October 1959 | - August 1963) | |
| Mildred Irene Clark | (September 1963 | - August 1967) | |
| Anna Mae V. Hays | (September 1967 | - June 1970) | |
| BG Anna Mae V. Hays | (June 1970 | - August 1971) | |
| BG Lillian Dunlap | (September 1971 | - August 1975) | |
| BG Madelyn N. Parks | (September 1975 | - August 1979) | |
| BG Hazel W. Johnson | (September 1979 | - August 1982) | |
| BG Connie L. Slewitzke | (September 1983 | - August 1987) | |
| BG Clara L. Adams-Ender | (September 1987 | - August 1991) | |
| BG Nancy R. Adams | (November 1991 | - December 1995) | |
| BG Bettye H. Simmons | (December 1995 | - January 2000) | |
| BG William T. Bester | (Ma i2000 | - June 2004) | |
| MG Gale S. Pollock | (July 2004 | - July 2008) | |
| MG Patricia D. Horoho | (July 2008 | - December 2011) | |
| MG Jimmie O. Keenan | (January 2012 | - November 2015) |
Particularly distinguished members of the USANC
- Dorothea Dix - first superintendent of USANC
- Cornelia Hancock - civilian nurse in the Union Army , injured on duty
- Mary Edwards Walker - Civil War Nurse, Army First Surgeon and Medal of Honor recipient
- Susie Taylor - first African American Army Nurse
- Reba Cameron - Army nurse, recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal
- Adah Belle Thoms - Nursing pioneer who fought for the approval of African American sisters
- Annie Fox - first recipient of the Purple Heart
- Ruby Bradley - one of the most decorated female officers in World War II and Korea
- Diane Carlson Evans - Nurse in Vietnam, Founder of the Vietnam Woman's Memorial Foundation .
- Ruth M. Gardiner - first nurse killed in World War II, killed in Alaska in July 1943.
- E. Ann Hoefly - World War II nurse and later Chief of the US Air Force Nurse Corps .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f U.S. Army Center of Military History: Carolyn M. Feller, Debora R. Cox: Highlights in the History of the Army Nurse Corps (English)
- ↑ US National Archives and Records Administration: Records of the office of the Surgeon General (Army) (English) accessed on June 15, 2020
- ↑ National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM): American Angels of Mercy: Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee's Pictorial Record of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904 . In: medicalmuseum.mil . Retrieved September 30, 2016.
- ↑ Charissa J. Threat: Nursing Civil Rights: Gender and Race in the Army Nurse Corps University of Illinois, 2015 ISBN 978-0-252-08077-7 (English)
- ^ Mary C. Gillett: The Army Medical Department, 1865-1917 US Army Center of Military History, 1995 pp. 327-329 (English)
- ↑ Jennifer Casavant Telford: The American Nursing Shortage during World War I: The Debate over the Use of Nurses' Aids Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, Volume 27 Issue 1, Pages 85-99 doi = 10.3138 / cbmh.27.1.85 | pmid = 20533784 (English)
- ↑ US Army Center of Military History: The Army Nurse Corps (English) accessed June 15, 2020
- ↑ Time Magazine of January 12, 1942: ARMY: She-Soldiers ISSN 0040-781X (English)
- ^ Fabien Levy: Congresswoman Hochul Presents Posthumous Honorable Discharge To Daughter of World War II Veteran | Congresswoman Kathy Hochul . Hochul.house.gov. January 17, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ↑ Rebecca Chan Chung, Deborah DL Chung, Cecilia Ng Wong: Piloted to Serve: Memoirs of Rebecca Chan Chung, World War II in China with Flying Tigers, US Army and CNAC . Independently published, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4675-1864-2 .
- ^ The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project - University Archives - University Libraries . Library.uncg.edu. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ↑ a b c d Judith Bellafaire: The Army Nurse Corps: A Commemoration of World War II Service US Army Center of Military History, 1993. pp. 8–9 (English)
- ↑ a b c Chicago Tribune of May 21, 2001: Ted Gregory: Forgotten war nurses keep their story alive. (English) accessed on June 13, 2020
- ^ National Negro Health News: Negro Nurses , 1944, Volume 12, Issue 2, p. 7
- ↑ Library of Congress: 78th Congress, 2nd Session 1944 (PDF) (English) accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ↑ Stephen Ambrose: Eisenhower the President Simon & Schuster, 1984 ISBN 978-0-671-49901-3 p. 5422
- ↑ US Government Information: 84th Congress Public Law 294 (PDF) (English) accessed on June 16, 2020
- ↑ Chad E. O'Lynn, Russell E. Tranbarger: Men in Nursing: History, Challenges, and Opportunities Springer Publishing, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8261-0349-9 p. 88
- ↑ http://www.virtualwall.org/women.htm American Civilian and Military Women Who Died in the Vietnam War (1959–1975)
- ↑ Is military nursing for you? . In: Nursing2019 . 33, January 2003, ISSN 0360-4039 , p. 22.
- ↑ US Army Medical Department: Army Nurse Corps: BRIGADIER GENERAL JACK M. DAVIS (PDF) (English) accessed on June 15, 2020
- ^ US Army Medical Department - Office of Medical History: Superintendents and Chiefs of the Army Nurse Corps (English) accessed on June 15, 2020
- ↑ Brigadier General E. Ann Hoefly . Retrieved November 30, 2017.
literature
- Mary C. Gillett: The Army Medical Department, 1775–1818 , United States Army Center of Military History, United States Army: Army Historical Series 1981 (English)
- Mary C. Gillett: The Army Medical Department, 1818–1865 , Center of Military History, United States Army: Army Historical Series 1987 (English)
- Mary C. Gillett: The Army Medical Department, 1865-1917 Center of Military History, United States Army: Army Historical Series 1995
- David G. Krueger: The Red Cross, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Origins of the Army Nurse Corps in the Spanish-American War. Journal of Military History, 2019 VOL 83, Issue 2, pp. 409–434 (English)
- Center of Military History: The Army Nurse Corps , Center of Military History, United States Army.
- Evelyn Monahan, Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee: And If I Perish: Frontline US Army Nurses in World War II. Knopf, 2004 ISBN 978-1-4000-3129-0 (English)
- Kara D. Vuic: Officer, Nurse, Woman: The Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011 ISBN 978-1-4214-0444-8 (English)
