New Zealand Military Nurses’ Fight for Recognition: World War One – World War Two
Jill Clendon, BA, RCpN, Public Health Nurse, Auckland Healthcare Limited
Reference: Clendon, J. (1997). New Zealand Military Nurses’ Fight for Recognition: World War One – World War Two. Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 12(1), 24-28.
Abstract:
Abstract
This article examines the battle undertaken by New Zealand’s military nurses to gain recognition as officers. The fight to win this battle took from just prior to World War One to mid-way through World War Two – twenty seven years. Issues such as male domination of the military and the government, the generally accepted work of women in war and the lack of knowledge concerning nursing’s professionalism combined to create a situation whereby practical recognition of the nurses did not take place until visual alterations were made to uniforms in 1941.