Women Nurses in the Spanish-American War

Minerva: Quarterly Report on Women and the Military, Spring, 2001 by Mercedes H. Graf

Prior to July 1, 1899, the number of women who served as Army nurses totaled 1,563. By the end of the month only 202 women remined on duty, as a result of the control of typhoid fever and mustering out of the Volunteer Army. By February 2, 1901, the permanent Nurse Corps came into existence; any nurse under contract automatically became a member of the Corps by law.(13)

Issues Related to Training

In the slightly more than three decades since the War Between the States, nursing schools had sprung up all over the country, and women graduates were struggling with issues related to their professional status. While Civil War nurses may have been perceived as "glorified housekeepers" by the male establishment, Spanish-American War (SAW) contract nurses had moved beyond this stereotype and had positioned themselves to be accepted as qualified medical workers.(14) They had acquired the knowledge and technical skills to be called graduate nurses as opposed to those who assumed the title without similar training.(15) As a result, it can be assumed that it was in the self-interest of trained nurses to view themselves as having more prestige than the unqualified.

At each hospital a chief nurse was appointed whose duties were seen as being equivalent to the superintendent of nurses in a civil hospital. McGee stated that the chief nurses were women "of executive ability and tact" and their work was of the "utmost importance to the success of the Corps."(16) This view coincided with the hierarchical ordering of relationships seen in the civil hospitals where the physician was in charge, the chief nurses managed the wards, and the nurses carried on their duties under them.

The surgeon-in-charge of each military hospital was responsible for reporting changes in status and number of nurses, while the chief nurse reported their efficiency, health, and conduct on the Personal Data Cards.(17) This was the first time that official grades regarding the performance of military nurses were systematically recorded (although Civil War surgeons had frequently forwarded unofficial ratings of nurses on their staff to the Superintendent of Nurses, Dorothea Dix).(18) Many of the SAW data cards listed "A" (for ability) and "H" (for health), while a similar label related to conduct appeared regularly. Although positive remarks appear on the cards, comments were more likely to be elaborated on when the health or ability of a nurse was below par or when the conduct of a contract nurse appeared to be questionable or "unbecoming." A final grade was assigned for efficiency: ratings ranged from 1 to 4, with "1" excellent and "4" unsatisfactory.(19)

Untrained Nurses and Efficiency Ratings

As might be expected, the quality of work displayed by untrained nurses was very uneven, and those women who could not measure up to the expectations of the service were given lower grades. For example, a rating of "3" was awarded to a nurse who neglected the patients if she did not like them. One chief nurse rationalized her rating of "4" for Nurse Coffee this way: "Nongraduate. Service unsatisfactory as testified by frequent objections of several surgeons to her assignment to their wards." At the extreme end of the rating scale, an "immune" was discharged for immorality.(20)