RisksArmy Nurses not only had to deal with general hospital issues, but they also faced safety risks like anyone enlisted in the army.
HOSPITAL RISKS: -infection: even a minor cut could result into a fast-spreading infection, especially for 1/3 of all hospitals where proper gloves, masks, and uniforms were not provided -contagion: of all the things going on in the trenches, illness was one of the worst. hospitals flooded with patients always attracted carriers of things, even as serious as malaria (created Contagious Disease Treatment and Control Unit) -buildings: lots of "hospitals" were located in previously abandoned buildings or old hospitals where there were leaky roofs, unfinished flooring, faulty electricity, poorly running water, broken windows, and some were even placed in tents -weather: with poorly functioning locations, it was almost impossible to work in a rainstorm, sandstorm, or extreme heat/freeze. It was also very difficult to receive supplies and get patients in or out when the hospitals were snowed in or when a storm was brewing ARMY RISKS: -attacks: though the ANC tried to locate their hospitals in discrete spots, they almost always were found by enemy eyes. Even if it might seem pointless to attack a hospital, it occurred very often. The idea was to bring down the patients before they had a chance to get back onto the battle field, and to show the country that not even their non-threatening employees were at risk. Sometimes battles occurred directly outside of hospitals. Naval and Flight Hospitals were the most commonly brought down, usually by bombs. |
InjuriesTowards the end of 1942, the Army Nurse Corps recognized that basic training for nurses wasn't always enough to meet a patients' needs. With certain jobs short on supply, they decided to create other nursing jobs for their hospitals. These nurses specialized in a certain area of medicine, whereas the other nurses were more generalized to all feilds of medicine. These jobs were short in ever feild of opperation for the ANC, so the courses were cut down to six months, instead of the recommended year.
SPECIALIZED NURSES: -Nurse Anesthesiologists: nurses specializing in administering and managing inhalation anesthesia, always present during a amputation to administer local anesthesia -Nurse Phlebotomists: nurses specializing in blood and blood derivatives, patients suffering from blood loss, blood infection, and blood diseases -Burn Rehabilitation Nurses: nurses specializing in burns, knew how to diagnose a burn, burn degree, administer care to other skin irritation -Nurse Oxygenologists: nurses specializing in administrating, pumping, and providing oxygen to patients facing trouble breathing or collapsed lungs -Shock Nurses: nurses specializing in preventing, recognizing, and treating victims of both physical and emotional shock |
Patients
Nurses saw up to 400 patients a day and usually worked in wards with 20-40 others. Often patients were in and out of the hospital within a matter of hours, almost never did any stay in overnight care, even if they were in critical condition. Though most hospitals would accept any American needing care, it did happen where a patient wouldn't be seen and had to travel to the next nearest hospital.