This paper provides a critical analysis of primary sources, such as publications, diaries and letters by the battlefield nurses and secondary sources addressing the involvement of women nurses (battlefield angels) in the American civil war. Battlefield Nurses during the Civil War Volunteer nurses were invaluably resourceful during the civil war by providing aid and comfort to wounded as well as sick soldiers. At the beginning of the national struggle, the nursing profession was dominated by men due to the consideration that women were too frail to handle the severities of administering to the wounded and sick. The insufficient medical supplies and insufficient medical treatment in
Many women performing nursing functions in the almshouses (medical care for all by the Elizabethan Poor Law provided minimal care, most often in almshouses supported by local government, sought to regulate where the poor could live as to provide care during illness) and early hospitals in Great Britain were poorly educated, untrained and often undependable (Stanhope & Lancaster 2012) . Florence Nightingale’s vision to train nurses and her model of nursing education for the nursing profession indirectly influenced the development of public health nursing in the United States (Stanhope & Lancaster 2012) . During the Crimean War, the care of the sick and wounded soldiers was inadequate with cramped quarters, poor sanitation, lice and rats, and limited food and supplies. Nightingale was appointed and sent to Asia Minor to address the situation with 40 ladies, 117 hired nurses, and 15 paid servants. I t was at this time, Nightingale’s concept of public health nursing began to identify health care needs that affected the entire population to mobilize resources and organize themselves and the community to provide needs (Stanhope & Lancaster 2012).
Women had few rights and were controlled by their husbands. Changing attitudes towards women in British society was an important factor in winning women the vote in 1918 however other factors were also involved. The peaceful actions of the suffragists and the violence of the suffragettes helped win support and publicity for women suffrage. The role of women at home in Britain during WW1and international pressure of introducing women’s suffrage also led to women receiving the vote by 1918. Changing attitude towards women in Britain society helped women achieve the vote in 1918.
Seacole was a black Jamaican nurse who wanted to help Florence Nightingale’s team of nurses during the Crimean War but her efforts were thwart due to her skin color. Despite this, she utilized her own resources and money to aid soldiers during the war. Being a person
Guided by the voices Joan helped to stop the siege and the Hundred Year War. “But before she rushed into battle, Joan said that God demanded that she give the enemy a chance to surrender peacefully.” (HonerPg.13) Joan did it peacefully giving the enemy a chance to surrender. She didn’t just murder, murder, murder, she gave them a chance to keep their lives.” Joan of Arc only a peasant girl in the 1400’s after hearing voices in her head took France to war. She helped save them from the British. Even though she saved France she was tried and convicted of being a witch and was burned at the stake.
There, officials of the International Red Cross, organized in 1864, urged her to seek United States agreement to the Geneva Convention recognizing the work of the Red Cross; the powerful U.S. Sanitary Commission had been unable to obtain it. But before Barton could turn to the task, the Franco-Prussian War began. She offered her services to the Grand Duchess of Baden in administering military hospitals. Her most original idea (developed further in later situations) was to put needy Strasbourg women to work sewing garments for pay. Later, with the French defeated and Paris held by the Commune, she entered the starving city to distribute food and clothing.
Women felt they were treated equally prior to the war; however, that changed after US’ occupation in Iraq. Not only in the aspect of the work force but daily activities as well. Riverbend comments on how most women lost their jobs or risked their lives if they worked. Also, men carried guns, giving them a sense of power, and that they were dominant over women. Additionally, women could not leave the house after the war without being accompanied by a male.
She was seen as a heroine who had died serving her country. This defeated the previous argument against women’s suffrage that women did not serve their country and so should not vote. Thus, women were enfranchised partly by a nation grateful for their contribution to Britain’s victory in the First World War. Furthermore, women had demonstrated their resourcefulness, convincing some who opposed women’s suffrage that they deserved the vote. Public opinion had changed, becoming more favourable towards women’s
She relayed to me that she was fed up with healthcare in this country and did not understand how she could work hard her whole life and be treated like less than because she had an “HMO”. She too, like me and others, seem to be failed by our medical system currently in place. Sue complains that her HMO is awful and they have withheld care on more than one occasion. She goes on to explain that an HMO insurance only allows you to see certain doctors. The doctors she needs to see, she goes on to say, are not available to her as they do not participate with her insurance, Aetna.
Seacole was originally from the West Indies and voyaged to the Crimean war because she wanted to help nurse the wounded soldiers .This shows that Seacole was in Crimea to actually help the soldiers and aid the medical assistance, I think that this shows the true qualities of the ‘Angel of Mercy’. In comparison, source V speaks of how Florence Nightingale revolutionised the way in hospitals in the Crimea were run. This could be seen from the quotation ‘formidable gifts for organisation’. In contrast, source 2C describes the energy in which Nightingale preformed every task and compares her against the grit and determination of the soldiers. An example of this is ‘battled as valiantly as any soldier in the field to improve conditions’.