a very few good nurses - prologue - fall 2010

8/8/2019 A Very Few Good Nurses - Prologue - Fall 2010

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aVery few good nursesBy M g


2/7

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Lessons LearnedIn the Civil War

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Picking a Few NursesFrom Among Thousands

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Opposite top: The six ully trained nurses on board the hospital ship Reliefin 1898. Congress approved the contracting o nurses, regardless o

gender, in March o that year, just in time or service during the Spanish-American War. Left: The Reliefwas equipped with the latest advances in

medical equipment and acilities or aseptic surgery.

Above: Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee (right), acting assistant surgeon o the U.S. Army, examined nearly 6,000 applicat ions or nursing positions,

selecting six or service aboard the Relief.The selection according to DAR requirements (let) provided a uniorm standard or the selection.

Prologue 29A VeryFew Good Nurses


3/7

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Serving Aboard the relief:A Well-Equipped Hospital Ship

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Esther Voorhees Hasson (opposite), one o the

nurses on the maiden voyage o the Relief, later

became the frst Navy Nurse Corps superintendent.

She recalled conditions on the ship and her wartime

experiences in a nine-page memoir (above).

30 Prologue Fall 2010


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The relief Reaches Cuba,and the Work Takes Its Toll

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Personal data cards or Louise J. Block and Elise

Lampe record such inormation as their training

vaccination, and health.

A VeryFew Good Nurses


5/7

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Above:Louise Block resigned in October on account

o ill health. Her letter to Dr. McGee noted that she

had still not recovered ater having been quite sick

on our last voyage.

To learn more about

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www.archives.gov/publications/

prologue/index/, k p 1998 p

100 y w.

p-am

W, www.archives.gov/publications/

prologue/index/, k 2002.

p-am W,

www.archives.gov/research/military/spanish-

american-war.



6/7

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As One Nurse Opts for Marriage,Another Has a Long Military Career amt h mwt

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A nurse in the ward on the Relief. The ships

medical sta praised the nurses work, and would

have requested more nurses i there were proper

accommodations.

Prologue 3A VeryFew Good Nurses


7/7

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Hasson Returns to ServiceIn World War I in Europe

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Pubt 288, General Index to Pension Files,

18611934.

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t Relief, n s, Medico-Surgical

Aspects of the Spanish-American War(c:

am M at P, 1900).

m h, py y ,

h. g, Serving Proudly: A History of

Women in the U.S. Navy (ap, Md: n

ittut P, 2001). T U.s. ny Buu

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mpb .

ote on ources

Author

Mercedes Graf -

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py w. pb

bk: Quarantine: the Story of

Typhoid Mary,A Woman of Honor: Dr. Mary E. Walker

and the Civil War, w - J B,

Women Doctors in War(x a & M P, 2009). On

the Field of Mercy: Women Medical Volunteers from the

Civil War to World War I tm (humty

Bk).s uty t wk bk but wm

W W ii w wm y -

m b wm.

The Surgeon Generals comments on nurse Lucy

Sharp state that she was an able, efcient . . . reliable

nurse, devoted to her duty, untiring in energy in doing

her work and sel-sacrifcing on all occasions.


a very few good nurses - prologue - fall 2010

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