Throughout my research paper I will examine the role of female Canadian nurses in World War One (WW1). I will discuss the broad term of Military Nurses, which I will break down into two types of nurses, which are the Nursing Sisters (NS) who were part of the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC), and Voluntary Aid Detachment Nurses (VADs) who were developed by St. Johns Ambulance Association (SJAA). In addition to discussing who the Nursing Sisters and the VADs were, I will also focus on the conflict between these two groups of nurses. To continue, I will incorporate Military Nurse’s contributions to Canada in terms of physical, emotional, and mental health of the soldiers, as well as explain the nurses’ health in this time, which is discussed in three categories: general illnesses and diseases, Spanish Flu, and their emotional and mental health. Lastly, this paper will look at gender and how being female in a nursing profession in the war impacted them.

 

I chose this topic because it both deals with the aspects of gender and health, which this course is focused on. This topic I chose looks at a bit of the impact medical experts had, but more of the focus is on the gendered roles in the medical field, which is an aspect my ePortfolio is discussing. My research topic of female Canadian nurses in World War One helps me to explain gendered roles in the medical field, in terms of females being primarily nurses because that was their expected role to play in the medical field, whereas males were primarily the doctors. Furthermore, this topic also explores the jobs the female gendered role of being a nurse had to do in the time of the war. Overall, my research topic of choice showcases my main arguments of this ePortfolio very well by explaining gendered roles in the medical field.