“I learned to trust myself”. An oral history of professional nurses' wartime practice in Finnmark

Ingrid Immonen

doi:10.7557/13.3639

Abstract

As we can see in war areas today, health care systems and especially hospitals can be considered as a safety net for the civilian population. This was also the case of civilian health care institutions, nurses and medical practitioners in the sparsely populated areas in Finnmark and Northern part of Troms during World War II. Nurses are, and were, the largest group of health professionals. Most nurses worked in small communities and institutions over the large province, and their efforts have been under-communicated. Through interviews, mainly with nurses but also with catholic Sisters in Hammerfest and Tromso as well as members of families with sick persons, we get a picture of daily work as well as work in extreme conditions. There was a need for creative solutions when the basics of water, food, supplies and medicine were lacking, when nursing care was being provided in bomb shelters or during escape. There is also the issue of ethics while nursing enemies as well as friends. The physical and mental demands on the nurses were extreme. By detailing the war’s challenges to nursing, its challenges to civilian life are at the same time conveyed.

Highlights

Increasing significance in treatment and care is given to the patients’ life history
Knowing something about local history as well as life history is vital in the meeting with patients and in care situations
In the 1990s there was little in textbooks about nursing in northern parts of Norway during the War, what impact it had on health in civil society, and how this influenced the work of nurses and health care personnel

Summary

Introduction

Increasing significance in treatment and care is given to the patients’ life history. In the 1990s there was little in textbooks about nursing in northern parts of Norway during the War, what impact it had on health in civil society, and how this influenced the work of nurses and health care personnel. Kirkenes in the east was one of Europe’s most heavily bombed cities during the War, and in many communities the damage caused by shelling was considerable (Nordhus 1948) This affected hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages, which had to find temporary locations, e.g. Kirkenes hospital moved into Sollia children’s home, located east of Kirkenes. In Vardø, the hospital was completely damaged during an air raid, the temporary hospital was bombed, and the hospital had to move to Syltefjord, on the northern coast about 60 km west of Vardø.7 These are just some examples to illustrate the kind of extraordinary challenges health personnel could meet. Civil health personnel and civil society had to cope with a variety of challenges caused by warfare, in addition to their usual everyday activities and problems

Methodology

16 Annual medical reports 1937–1939

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion