In the company of nurses: the history of the British Army Nursing Service in the Great War, Edinburgh University Press, October 2014
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Date
29/11/2016Author
McEwen, Yvonne Therese
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Abstract
In the Company of Nurses: The History of The British Army Nursing Service in the
Great War, Edinburgh University Press 2014.
This is the first monograph to be published on the work of the Queen Alexandra's
Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) in the Great War. The historiography
of British military nursing during this period is scant, and research based monograph
are negligible. What exists, does not focus specifically on the work of the Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, (QAIMNS) the Reserve,
(QAIMNSR) or the Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS) but tends to
concentrate on the work of the volunteer, untrained, Voluntary Aid Detachment
(VAD) nurses. Unfortunately, this has resulted in factually inaccurate representations
of British WW1 nursing.
The mass mobilisation of nurses by professional and voluntary nursing services led
to rivalry between the different groups and my research addresses the relationship
that develop between the trained and volunteer nurses.
Also, my research examines the climatic and environmental conditions that
impacted upon the effective delivery of nursing and casualty care and the
mismanagement of services and supplies by the War Office and the Army Medical
Services. Additionally, the political controversies and scandals over inadequate
planning for the care, treatment and transportation of mass casualties is addressed.
Furthermore, diseases and traumatic injuries sustained by nurses on active service
are examined and, shell-shock, hitherto considered a combatants' condition is cited in
relation to mental health issues of nurses on active service. Moreover, my research
examines the deaths and disability rates within the ranks of nursing services. My
research features individual awards for acts of bravery and mentioned in Dispatches.
On the Home Front the politics of nursing are addressed. Nurses campaigned for
professional recognition and many were supportive of universal suffrage and they
argued for both professional and personal liberation. The struggle for professional
recognition led to divisions within the civilian nursing leadership because they failed
to arrive at a consensus on the content of the Nurse Registration Bill. Also, the
supply of nurses for the war effort was consistently problematic and this led the
Government to establish the Supply of Nurses Committee. Before it had its first
sitting it had already become contentious and controversial. The issues are discussed.
Using extensive primary sources, the monograph moves away from the myths, and
uncritical and overly romanticised views of WW1 military nursing. It is hoped that
by examining the personal, professional and political issues that impacted upon
nurses the monograph will make a significant contribution to the historiography of
WW1 military nursing and to the history of the Great War more generally.