1910's Medicine and Health | Nurses in World War I

Nurses and Wars.

The history of nursing is also the history of war, for times of war have seen the major advances and achievements of nursing. The English nurse Florence Nightingale, pioneer and founder of modern nursing, became the "Lady with a Lamp" in the Crimean War (1854-1855). During the Civil War the United States produced women such as Clara Barton who greatly influenced nursing. World War I, the first conflict in which nurses had professional training, made the nation realize its reliance on nurses and the crucial need to prepare them to meet the medical needs of war. When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, the American Red Cross Nursing Service, under the direction of Jane Delano, began to serve as a recruitment and training agency, equipping nurses for overseas duty. Approximately twenty thousand nurses were as-signed to military service, many of them remaining abroad after the war to assist...