Abstract
AimDuring the Korean War (1950–1953), the Norwegian government sent a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) to support the efforts of the United Nations (UN) Army. During the war, 111 Norwegian nurses served in seven contingents, each 6 month, at the Norwegian Field Hospital in Korea. The nurses were nicknamed “The Korea Sisters”. The aim of this study is to explore the impact and influence of their wartime nursing on Norwegian post‐Korean‐War nursing.DesignQualitative.MethodsThe study uses several historical research approaches. Interview, archival search, search in nursing periodicals, contemporary magazines and nursing text books.ResultThe nursing legacy of The Korea Sisters can be found in changes in general nursing, uniform education of theatre nurses, uniform education of anaesthetist nurses and in humanitarian work.
Highlights
Modern nursing is unbreakable linked to Florence Nightingale and her well documented organizing of nursing in 1854–1855, during the Crimean War (1853–1856)
To identify changes in practice related to the service during the Korean War, the Norwegian Nursing Association’s (NNA) periodical Sykepleien
A closer look at the professional background of the nurses indicates that they were highly competent regarding serving in a field hospital in a war
Summary
Modern nursing is unbreakable linked to Florence Nightingale and her well documented organizing of nursing in 1854–1855, during the Crimean War (1853–1856). Nurses knowledge and skills are tested in wartime and emergencies. Competence tried and practice expanded and changed (Helmstadter, 2015). Wartime nursing is a growing research field among nurse historians as well as historians with interest in gender and war. Several scholarly works have been published both about specific wars and topics, as well as anthologies about nursing in wartime. The Korean War. It is claimed that nursing in war is a catalyst for change (Brunk, 1997). Medical advancement resulting from The Korean War, have been identified and discussed (Baker, 2012), but what about nursing?
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