From the Front Lines to the Home Front: A History of the Development of Psychiatric Nursing in the U.S. During the World War II Era

Abstract

During World War II, psychiatric nurses learned valuable lessons on how to deal with the traumas of war. Using psychohistorical inquiry, this historian examined primary and secondary sources, beyond the facts and dates associated with historical events, to understand why and how psychiatric nurse pioneers developed therapeutic techniques to address the psychosocial and physical needs of combatants. Not only is the story told about the hardships endured as nurses ministered to soldiers, but their attitudes, beliefs, and emotions, that is, how they felt and what they thought about their circumstances, are explored. In this study the lived experiences of two psychiatric nurses, Votta and Peplau, are contrasted to explicate how knowledge development improved care and how this knowledge had an impact on the home front in nursing practice and education, as well as in mental institutions and society, long after the war was won.