Cadet Nurse Corps

Background

The United States experienced a nursing shortage long before entering World War II, and the shortage worsened with the prewar military buildup and industrial upturn. Professional nursing groups were initially unprepared to address the problem. On 10 July 1940, Isabel M. Stewart, a professor of nursing at Columbia University and member of the National League for Nursing, wrote to its president advocating for a representative committee. Within three weeks, on 29 July 1940, representatives of the national nursing community gathered in New York City under the American Nurses Association and formed the Nursing Council on National Defense.

The council first surveyed nursing resources and sought federal funding to expand educational opportunities. The survey found that 100,000 nurses were eligible for military service and that most nursing schools could not enlarge their facilities. The council submitted a federal aid request for fiscal year 1 July 1941 to 30 June 1942, which was approved and funded as the Nurse Training Program, assisting 12,000 students at 309 schools. By the end of that fiscal year, 47,500 students were enrolled, but this did not meet demand.

In 1942, the Office of War Information used radio advertisements to mobilize interest, but efforts fell short. Supporters recommended doubling federal aid for basic nursing education for the fiscal year ending 30 June 1943. Representative Frances P. Bolton of Ohio supported the increase and informed Congress that further aid requests were likely.

Creation of the program

On 29 March 1943, Representative Frances P. Bolton introduced H.R. 2326, a bill to create and fund a nurse training program. The Senate added an amendment prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, or creed. At legislative hearings, hospital groups described the distress in civilian nursing care. Support came via letters and telegrams.

The bill passed both houses by unanimous vote on 15 June 1943 and became Public Law 74 on 1 July 1943, titled the Nurse Training Act of 1943, commonly called the Bolton Act. It provided grants to institutions for training nurses for the armed forces, government and civilian hospitals, health agencies, and war industries. Those trained would comprise a uniformed body without military status. The federal security administrator appointed an advisory committee of nursing and related professionals.

The committee met on 25 June 1943 to establish rules and regulations, which were approved by the surgeon general and published in the Federal Register. The surgeon general sent telegrams outlining the program to 1,300 nursing schools in the United States and Puerto Rico, followed by applications. Schools in the Territory of Hawaii were ineligible due to being in a war zone; Alaska had no nursing schools. Regulations required schools to be state accredited, connected with a hospital approved by the American College of Surgeons, maintain adequate facilities and personnel, and provide clinical experience in medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics.

Recruitment

The U.S. Public Health Service recruitment drive for the Cadet Nurse Corps was designed to find as many applicants as possible, as fast as possible. It focused on high school graduates but also reached out to college women, offering a free education in a respected field while allowing them to serve the country. The campaign reached over seven million newspaper and magazine readers, plus millions more through radio, movies, speeches, billboards, and leaflets.

In a single year, U.S. companies donated thirteen million dollars in advertising space and services. The Eastman Kodak Company ran a full-page ad in Life magazine on January 24, 1944, calling the corps a war job with a future. A ten-minute recruitment film, Reward Unlimited, starring Dorothy McGuire as cadet nurse Peggy Adams, won an award as the best recruitment film of 1944 and played in 16,000 theaters to 90 million people. The American Hospital Association set up recruitment centers in all 1,125 participating nursing schools, using booths and volunteers.

State and local nursing councils and other groups also helped. In the first year, 1943, 65,521 students enrolled; in 1944, 61,471; and in 1945, 3,000 students entered the final class. The Nurse Training Act of 1943 banned discrimination based on race, creed, or color.

Did You Know?

• Of the 1,300 nursing schools in the country, 1,125 participated in the program.
• The traditional 36-month nursing program was compressed into 30 months for cadets.
• The corps pledge was a statement of good intentions rather than a legal contract.