A New Approach to Preparing Nurses for War: The Army School of Nursing

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwyneth Milbrath
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
United States Army ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Nurses ◽  
School Of Nursing ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Human Conflict

War and human conflict have historically propelled the profession of nursing forward, due to the intense demand for large numbers of efficient, high-quality nurses to care for injured troops. This article begins with an overview of nursing in the United States Army and Navy Nurse Corps and the influences of war on the advancement of American nursing, with a specific focus on the Army School of Nursing. As a response to the need for nurses in World War I, the Army School of Nursing was a novel approach to educating new nurses to be quickly mobilized in wartime and to provide nursing care at base hospitals across the United States. Students provided care to thousands of troops during the influenza pandemic of 1918, and several lost their lives providing care at these military encampments, including Fort Riley, the suspected starting point of the influenza epidemic in the United States.

scholarly journals Influenza Circulation in United States Army Training Camps Before and During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Clues to Early Detection of Pandemic Viral Emergence

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Chertow ◽  
Rongman Cai ◽  
Junfeng Sun ◽  
John Grantham ◽  
Jeffery K. Taubenberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
United States Army ◽  
Respiratory Diseases ◽  
National Guard ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Low Incidence ◽  
1918 Influenza

Abstract Background.  Surveillance for respiratory diseases in domestic National Army and National Guard training camps began after the United States’ entry into World War I, 17 months before the “Spanish influenza” pandemic appeared. Methods.  Morbidity, mortality, and case-fatality data from 605 625 admissions and 18 258 deaths recorded for 7 diagnostic categories of respiratory diseases, including influenza and pneumonia, were examined over prepandemic and pandemic periods. Results.  High pandemic influenza mortality was primarily due to increased incidence of, but not increased severity of, secondary bacterial pneumonias. Conclusions.  Two prepandemic incidence peaks of probable influenza, in December 1917–January 1918 and in March–April 1918, differed markedly from the September–October 1918 pandemic onset peak in their clinical-epidemiologic features, and they may have been caused by seasonal or endemic viruses. Nevertheless, rising proportions of very low incidence postinfluenza bronchopneumonia (diagnosed at the time as influenza and bronchopneumonia) in early 1918 could have reflected circulation of the pandemic virus 5 months before it emerged in pandemic form. In this study, we discuss the possibility of detecting pandemic viruses before they emerge, by surveillance of special populations.

Major Harvey Cushing's difficulties with the British and American armies during World War I

2014 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Carey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
United States Army ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Us Army ◽  
Hospital Units ◽  
The Us ◽  
Initial Inability

This historical review explores Harvey Cushing's difficulties with both the British and American armies during his World War I service to definitively examine the rumor of his possible court martial. It also provides a further understanding of Cushing the man. While in France during World War I, Cushing was initially assigned to British hospital units. This service began in May 1917 and ended abruptly in May 1918 when the British cashiered him for repeated censorship violations. Returning to American command, he feared court martial. The army file on this matter (retrieved from the United States National Archives) indicates that US Army authorities recommended that Cushing be reprimanded and returned to the US for his violations. The army carried out neither recommendation, and no evidence exists that a court martial was considered. Cushing's army career and possible future academic life were protected by the actions of his surgical peers and Merritte Ireland, Chief Surgeon of the US Army in France. After this censorship episode, Cushing was made a neurosurgical consultant but was also sternly warned that further rule violations would not be tolerated by the US Army. Thereafter, despite the onset of a severe peripheral neuropathy, probably Guillian Barré's syndrome, Cushing was indefatigable in ministering to neurosurgical needs in the US sector in France. Cushing's repeated defying of censorship regulations reveals poor judgment plus an initial inability to be a “team player.” The explanations he offered for his censorship violations showed an ability to bend the truth. Cushing's war journal is unclear as to exactly what transpired between him and the British and US armies. It also shows no recognition of the help he received from others who were instrumental in preventing his ignominious removal from service in France. Had that happened, his academic future and ability to train future neurosurgical leaders may have been seriously threatened. Cushing's foibles notwithstanding, all realized that he contributed greatly to both British and US war neurosurgery. United States Army surgeons who operated upon brain wounds in France recognized Cushing as their leader.

scholarly journals California and the 1918–1920 Influenza Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-36
Author(s):  
Diane M. T. North
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
The United States ◽  
Virus Spread ◽  
World War ◽  
Military Installations

The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic remains the deadliest influenza pandemic in recorded history. It started in the midst of World War I and killed an estimated 50–100 million people worldwide, many from complications of pneumonia. Approximately 500 million, or one-third of the world's population, became infected. In the United States, an estimated 850,000 died. The exceptionally contagious, unknown strain of influenza virus spread rapidly and attacked all ages, but it especially targeted young adults (ages twenty to forty-four). This essay examines the evolution of four waves of the 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, emphasizes the role of the U.S. Navy and sea travel as the initial transmitters of the virus in the United States, and focuses on California communities and military installations as a case study in the response to the crisis. Although the world war, limited medical science, and the unknown nature of the virus made it extremely difficult to fight the disease, the responses of national, state, and community leaders to the 1918–1920 influenza pandemic can provide useful lessons in 2020, as the onslaught of COVID-19 forces people worldwide to confront a terrible illness and death.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1896–1940)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Templeton
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
World War I ◽  
United States Army ◽  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
Short Story ◽  
The United States ◽  
Jazz Age ◽  
Princeton University ◽  
Story Writer

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American novelist, short-story writer, and cultural critic. Best-known for his 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, he coined the term "The Jazz Age" to refer to the riotous lifestyle of alcohol and excess that characterized the zeitgeist of the United States during the Roaring Twenties. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald was named after a well-known distant relative, Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star Spangled Banner." He attended but did not graduate from Princeton University, where he was a member of the Princeton Triangle club—a theater group dedicated to musical-comedy—and where he wrote for the literary magazine as well as the campus paper. During his time at Princeton Fitzgerald began work on what would eventually become his first novel, This Side of Paradise (then titled The Romantic Egoist). The energy devoted to such extracurricular activities took its toll on Fitzgerald’s coursework, and he dropped out of the university in 1917 to enlist in the United States Army. Fitzgerald was stationed in Alabama at Camp Sheridan but did not see combat in World War I. He was in New York awaiting deployment when the armistice was signed in 1918.

scholarly journals The United States Marine Corps

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark R. Folse
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Marine Corps ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Marine Corps ◽  
World War ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Us

The United States Marine Corps is an expeditionary and amphibious force in readiness with a history that spans almost the entire course of US history. The first American marines served under either continental or state employ during the War for American Independence. Although the Marine Corps celebrates 10 November 1775 as its official birthday, it was not until 11 July 1798 that the Marine Corps became a permanent military branch. Marines are an interesting amalgam of military and naval. Like their British Royal Marine ancestors, U.S. Marines serve with the navy afloat but they are not sailors. They have military features and organization but are not just soldiers either. Conceptually speaking, they are best thought of as naval infantry: soldiers who serve on ships at sea, not sailors who fight ashore. During the Barbary Wars (1801–1815), the War of 1812, and the American Civil War, detachments of Marines served aboard most naval vessels as the nucleus of landing parties, and safeguards against potentially mutinous crews. After the Spanish American War (1898–1899), the navy tasked the Marines with studying advanced base seizure and defense which would eventually lead to the Marine Corps adopting amphibious landings as one of their primary missions. The Marines, along with the navy, grew in size and function as the United States increased its sphere of influence around the globe and became a great maritime power just before the Great War. From World War I to the present day, the US Marine Corps has accrued a rich history of counterinsurgency and conventional campaigns. World War II is to this date still the Corps’ largest war which saw it expand to 485,000 Marines. Since the 1952 Douglas-Mansfield Act the Corps has hovered between 170,000 and 200,000 annually. Their present Marine Air Ground Task Force organization has allowed them to remain flexible and reliable to help the navy protect American interests and serve US policy and strategic objectives abroad. Significant participation in the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, and the more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are examples of this. Having fought in every major American war, and most of its smaller ones, the US Marine Corps has attracted a robust amount of scholarly attention. What follows is a selected collection of some of the most notable and useful works. It is by no means exhaustive but should serve as a starting point for researchers.

The True Test

2019 ◽  
pp. 78-91
Author(s):  
Jon B. Mikolashek
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
United States Army ◽  
Initial Phase ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Field Hospital

The Meuse-Argonne offensive is a massive undertaking, the largest operation by the United States Army in World War I. Much larger and size and scope than St. Mihiel, it has a small but important role for the 304th Tank Brigade. Patton personally leads his brigade into combat and is severely wounded in the initial phase of the offensive. He spends the rest of the operation in a field hospital recovering from his wounds. His tank brigade performs well in his absence.

Book ReviewsFlorence Nightingale’s Notes on Nursing and Notes on Nursing for the Labouring Classes: Commemorative Edition With Historical CommentaryFlorence Nightingale at First HandNotes on Nightingale: The Influence and Legacy of a Nursing IconGender and the Making of Modern Medicine in Colonial EgyptPrescribed Norms: Women and Health in Canada and the United States Since 1800Nursing and Women’s Labour in the Nineteenth Century: The Quest for IndependenceHealth and Medicine on Display: International Expositions in the United States, 1876–1904Go, and Do Thou Likewise: A History of the Cornell University–New York Hospital School of Nursing, 1877–1979War’s Waste: Rehabilitation in World War I AmericaAmerican Catholic Hospitals: A Century of Changing Markets and MissionsAmerican Nursing: A History of Knowledge, Authority, and the Meaning of WorkA Voice for Nurses: A History of the Royal College of Nursing, 1916–1990Nurses’ Voices: Memories of Nursing at St. George’s Hospital, London, 1930–1990The Politics of Motherhood: Maternity and Women’s Rights in Twentieth-Century ChileGet Me Out: A History of Childbirth From the Garden of Eden to the Sperm BankPermeable Walls: Historical Perspectives on Hospital and Asylum VisitingThe Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases From a State Hospital AtticA Contemporary History of the U.S. Army Nurse CorpsNurse: Past, Present and Future: The Making of Modern NursingFreed to Care, Proud to Nurse: 100 Years of the New Zealand Nurses OrganisationNursing the Finest Art: An Illustrated History (Third Edition)Celebrating Nurses: A Visual History

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-256
Author(s):  
Lynn McDonald ◽  
Hibba Abugideiri ◽  
Cheryl Krasnick Warsh ◽  
Sue Hawkins ◽  
Julie K. Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
World War I ◽  
The United States ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Contemporary History ◽  
Garden Of Eden ◽  
School Of Nursing ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
History Of

Blood, Guts, and Grease

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon B. Mikolashek
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
United States Army ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
World War ◽  
Small Unit ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Set Up

George S. Patton, one of the United States’ greatest field commanders, played a vital role in American involvement in World War I and the creation of the United States Tank Corps. While most literature focuses solely on Patton’s life and performance in World War II, the Great War was a pivotal event in his life and military career. Patton gained his first command in World War I with the United States Tank Corps. As the first “tanker” in United States Army history, Patton set up the first American light tank school and later commanded the 1st Tank Brigade in two campaigns, St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne offensive. The study focuses on Patton’s personal life, his decision to push for an assignment with John J. Pershing, and his roles as a staff officer for the American Expeditionary Force and ultimately as a small unit commander pioneering a new weapons system..

Southern Blues

2018 ◽  
pp. 17-32
Author(s):  
Kevin D. Greene
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World War I ◽  
United States Army ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
The United States ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
World War ◽  
Arkansas River ◽  
Over Time

Born at the turn of the twentieth century in Jim Crow Arkansas, Lee Bradley experienced the hardships of growing up black in the Mississippi and Arkansas River deltas. Introduced to music at a young age, Bradley developed an unusual talent as a country fiddler. Over time, he gained enough renown that his musicianship offered opportunities for work outside of his poor, sharecropping community. Just as he began cultivating his own sense of local music celebrity, he was pulled into the United States Army as a member of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I. His experiences abroad as a solider had an enormous impact on his understanding of the South, Jim Crow, and his own plight upon his return.

The Statesmanship of William Crawford Gorgas, M.D., Surgeon General, Medical Corps, United States Army

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-232
Author(s):  
Roy E. Gandy ◽  
Raven M. Christopher ◽  
Charles B. Rodning
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
World War I ◽  
United States Army ◽  
Medical Officer ◽  
Surgical Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Active Duty ◽  
World War ◽  
Surgeon General

If statesmanship can be characterized as a bed rock of principles, a strong moral compass, a vision, and an ability to articulate and effect that vision, then the fortitude, tenacity, imperturbability, and resilience of William Crawford Gorgas cannot be overestimated. As Chief Sanitary Officer in Cuba and as Chief Medical Officer in Panama, he actualized strategies to eradicate the vectors of yellow fever and malaria. His superiors initially pigeonholed his requisitions, refused to provide him with any authority, and clamored for his dismissal. Nevertheless, with dogged persistence he created a coalition of the willing, who eventually implemented those reforms. As Surgeon General in the United States Army, he organized and expanded the Active Duty and Medical Reserve Corps in anticipation of World War I. Skilled university affiliated surgeons and personnel from throughout North America, manned base hospitals in Europe. Those lessons impacted upon subsequent military and civilian surgical care—organizationally, logistically, and clinically. He was universally recognized for his bonhomie, savoir-faire, modesty, discretion, decorum, courtesy, and graciousness. To those attributes must be added his devotion to duty, discipline, integrity, and authenticity, which characterized his leadership and statesmanship. Those attributes are most worthy of emulation and perpetuation by clinicians, academicians, educators, and investigators.

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