Evening star., 1942-05-15
BY SUSAN B. ANTHONY II.


Barring buck privates from dates
with second lieutenant nurses has
been assailed by Josephus Daniels
as a rotten tradition" of the Army
Mr.. Daniels wrath has ignored,
however, another tradition of the
Army and Navy. one that disquali-
fies thousands of trained women
nurses from serving in their pro-
fessional capacity
Some 81, 900 registered nurses are
needed by the Army, Navy, Public
Health Service and civilian hospitals
In 1912. The Army alone must
recruit 1000 for its Nurse Corps
not later than December, 1912. And
the need for nurses increases in
proportion to the increase in the
Army.
The official War Department ratio
Is six nurses to every 1000 service
men, and l20 nurses to every 1000
beds in Army hospitals. A thousand
new selectees means six new reg
1stered nurses. Thus the need of
nurses is stressed constantly by the
big national nursing associations,
the American Red Cross, the Nurs-
ing Subcommittee of the Office of
Defense, Health and Welfare Serv-
Ices and the Army Nurse Corps.
Marriage q Disbarment.
Nurses are needed-if. Women in
white would be wise not to drop
their home life Immediately and
rush to offer their services to the
Army and Navy. They will get
fiat rundown if they happen to be
married.
The nursing associations held a
registration, signing up some 100000
members of the profession last year.
OF those enrolled only 10000 mac
tive registered nurses were revealed
as able to come back to work. There
are only 10000 inactive nurses in the
country.
The majority gave marriage as
their reason for inactivity Unless
they have become widowed in the
meantime, they are barred from
service in the Army Nurse Corps by
this order of the Secretary of War
dated December q, 1941
The War Department considers
that nurses who marry are insult
able for military service. Report
will be made to the War Department
for disposition of those cases where
nurses marry while in the military
service"
An elaboration of this ban on mar
ried nurses was given in an inter-
view by an Army Nurse Corps officer.
She said: "A married nurse might
have to take nine months leave to
have child. We can't afford to
give such extended time off to
nurses at the front or in base hos
pitals'
Officer Rebuts Argument.
A Medical Corps officer countered
this explanation with:
Married nurses could be disci-
plined as readily in this case as
single nurses. Besides, married
women having more maturity and
balance would consider professional
military duty first, and their legiti-
mate desires for children second,
during the war"
The nurse officer, however, had
a second objection to married nurses
in the Army. She said: Married
nurses are stubborn. If they should
be ordered to a training camp or
hospital far from husbands and
home, they just plain wouldn't 60"
The Medical Reserve Corps officer
replied to this: Married nurses
could be placed on Army duty only
within the bounds of the United
States so that they could go home
on furlough and see their husbands"
But the question arises: Would
their husbands be at home?"
The chances are that the hus-
bands Of many are or will be in
Army camps also. Military dis
cipline is effective in sending men
to Army camps away from their
wives. 1t is barely possible, accord
ing to the Medical Corps officer,
that if tried it would not break
down in the reserve process. And
as one married nurse said, where
single nurses can go, it seems evident
married nurses can go, too"
just as woman doctors can re-
place men in civilian duty, so it
is with married nurses, according to
Miss Edith Smith, assistant eXecu-
tive secretary of the subcommittee
on nursing.
Married nurses can replace single
nurses in civilian posts, thus re-
leasing them for military duty. This
is the patriotic duty of every regis
tered nurse in this war"
Civilian morale. Miss Smith contin-
ued. must be maintained by the GER
tainty that there are adequate num-
bers of nurses left in the United
States. This is where the thousands
of married nurses fit in. They can
replace single nurses on teaching
stats in nursing schools, in the
Public Health Service, and in
private institutions.
Married nurses who are inactive
because of the care of small chill
dren," she said, can try to make
some arrangement for the young
sters. The least they can do is Of
fer their services part time, say,
four hours a day, in civinan NUS
ing"
Women in white rank high in
Importance in the actual business
of war According to one officer,
fIoro ORC ctrou,c iy, tho urip5 m