Army Nurse Corps Needs Nurses, 1918

“Corps of Army Nurses Must be Increased Nearly 1,000 Per Cent in Year,” from the Jan. 24, 1918 issue of the French Broad Hustler, Hendersonville, N.C.

According to estimates based on an army of 1,500,000 men, 37,500 nurses will be needed. The present strength of the army nurse corps of the medical department is about 3,800. To increase this number by nearly 1,000 per cent in a year is the task faced by the corps.

Hospitals at army camps and cantonments still need nurses to bring the quota for each up to the minimum of 65 considered necessary, although since the urgent need for nurses was made public in December nearly 2,000 requests for application blanks have been received.

In order to get the enrollments up to the needed number some of the requirements heretofore imposed have been waived. According to the estimates there are between 80,000 and 90,000 registered nurses in the country and about 200,000 other graduate and practical nurses.