| Learning Objective #1: will be able to describe at least two features of the discourses of one major nursing journal during a time of war and foreign occupation. | |||
| Learning Objective #2: state at least one reason for the ethical importance of the nursing profession’s voice and silences during times of war. |
From the Crimean War, through the U. S. Civil War, two World Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, and the Iraq War today, wars have had significant implications for professional nursing. These implications are complex, as nurses in warring countries--individually and collectively--have at times behaved less than honorably. Perhaps the best-known example is the collaboration of individual German nurses and the acquiescence of much of German nursing during the Nazi period. Less is known about the ethical responses of nursing in Nazi-occupied countries, such as the Netherlands. In spite of its historical image of tolerance, the Netherlands lost 75 percent of its Jewish population of 140,000 during Nazi occupation -- the third highest percentage of victims in all of Europe, surpassed only by Germany and Poland. In contrast to the easily accessible stories of resistance by the Dutch physicians’ Medisch Contact, nursing stories from this period are difficult to find. Individual references to nurses can be found in the country’s literature on resistance, but the profession’s responses remain obscure. This paper adds to an understanding of nursing’s ethical responses to war and strife. It presents an analysis of official nursing discourses from the longest running Dutch nursing journal, the Tijdschrift voor Ziekenverpleging (TVZ, now the Tijdschrift voor Verpleegkundigen). Articles from 1940-1945 were analyzed in terms of relevant content, manner of presentation, contexts, and silences. The silences, in particular, reflect a decidedly a-political stance, avoiding support, criticism, or endorsement of political events. A comparison with findings from a previous analysis of a comparable U. S. journal, the American Journal of Nursing, for the same period, revealed similar silences. The paper ends with a discussion of implications of the nursing profession’s voice and silences in times of political strife and war.
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See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)