YOU ARE NEEDED NOW: JOIN THE ARMY NURSE CORPS – POSTER 1943

 

Title: YOU ARE NEEDED NOW: JOIN THE ARMY NURSE CORPS

Creation Date: June 1943

Artist: Ruzzie Green

Author: United States Army Nurse Corps.

 

This 1943 poster told women specifically that they were needed to win the war, something previously not common. In December of 1941, the US Army Nurse Corps consisted of less than 1,000 nurses. However, by the end of World War II, more than 59,000 Americans served in the Army Nurse Corps, including 479 black women. This eventually led to a nurse shortage on the home front, which was solved using the Cadet Nurse Corps program. Furthermore, World War II nurses were more directly in harm’s way than ever before, with thousands serving in field, evacuation, train, and ship hospitals and as flight nurses. Their skills led to a relatively low post-injury mortality rate within the US Army during World War II, with fewer than 4% of soldiers who received medical care in the field or underwent evacuation dying from their wounds or subsequent disease. In addition to their primary roles, Army nurses also instructed field medics on how to perform their jobs. It is of note that the American Red Cross, not the US Army itself, was responsible for recruiting nurses into the Army Nurse Corps, as demonstrated by this poster.