Vietnam memories: Australian Army Nurses, the Vietnam War, and oral history

Hemmings, Lynn

doi:10.1111/j.1440-1800.1996.tb00028.x

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The oral history collections at the AWM have been recorded as part of official (Hemmings, 1996). All interviews used in this study are the copyright property of the Australian War Memorial and are used and quoted here with express permission.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, the contribution of nurses to Australian war efforts has been documented by a number of publications, plays, television and film productions and exhibitions (Bassett, 1997;Biedermann, 2004;Biedermann, Usher, Williams, & Hayes, 2001;Harris, 2011;Hemmings, 1996;McHugh, 2006). In many ways, the Australian fascination with its own military history has facilitated the development of nursing history where it is connected to war efforts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

“Stress wasn’t a word”: Australian nurses’ recollections of war-related trauma

Smith

Halcomb

Moxham

2015

Health Emergency and Disaster Nursing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

L. (2015). "Stress wasn't a word": Australian nurses' recollections of war-related trauma. Health Emergency and Disaster Nursing, 2(1),12-22. "Stress wasn't a word": Australian nurses' recollections of war-related trauma AbstractAim: This research explores the recollections of Australian nurses in regards to psychological injury among those who served in World War II (WWII) and the Vietnamese conflict.Methods: Existing oral histories from WWII and Vietnam held by the Australian War Memorial were explored for recollections of issues related to psychological injury. A constant comparative method was used to allow themes to emerge across both cohorts of interviews.Results: Findings indicate that nurses from both conflicts witnessed trauma among their patients in the field and experienced it among themselves upon their return from service. Three main themes emerged which related to nursing practices, nursing attitudes, and nurses' experiences of stress or trauma during wartime. Underlying these themes were recurring concepts related to gender, stoicism and talking, which reveal that the required professionalism of nursing practice can sometimes act as a barrier to nurses dealing with, and admitting to, their own stress or trauma. Conclusions:This study reveals a disturbing persistence of issues around gender and 'talking' in relation to the experience and treatment of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returned service people, including medical personnel such as nurses. While nurses are quick to recognise the importance of talking as a form of therapeutic treatment for soldiers, they struggled to articulate their own trauma, revealing a complex negotiation of social expectations and gender roles. The ability of service personnel to talk about their own war experience has been linked to recovery from trauma, and nurses need to be included in this dialogue, for historical purposes and in relation to contemporary military service. Methods: Existing oral histories from WWII and Vietnam held by the Australian War Memorial were explored for recollections of issues related to psychological injury. A constant comparative method was used to allow themes to emerge across both cohorts of interviews.Results: Findings indicate that nurses from both conflicts witnessed trauma among their patients in the field and experienced it among themselves upon their return from service. Three main themes emerged which related to nursing practices, nursing attitudes, and nurses' experiences of stress or trauma during wartime. Underlying these themes were recurring concepts related to gender, stoicism and talking, which reveal that the required professionalism of nursing practice can sometimes act as a barrier to nurses dealing with, and admitting to, their own stress or trauma.Conclusions: This study reveals a disturbing persistence of issues around gender and 'talking' in relation to the experience and treatment of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returned service people, including medical personnel such...

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Stress wasn’t a word”: Australian nurses’ recollections of war-related trauma

Smith

Halcomb

Moxham

2015

Health Emergency and Disaster Nursing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nurses played a pivotal role in all these processes, especially in operating rooms. This resulted in a fundamental change in the general view towards nursing practice and later enhanced nursing professionalism in Iran (8).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences of the civilian Iranian operating room nurses: A historical survey of the Iran-Iraq war

Firouzkouhi

Kako

Zargham-Boroujeni

2016

J Nurs Midwifery Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background and Purpose: Upon centuries, wars have taken over countries due to theadvancement of sophisticated warfare,causingserious injuries among soldiers. Nurses are directly involved in preoperative and postsurgical patient care. One of the most remarkable contributions of the Iranian operating room nurses was to provide medical care for wounded soldiers in field hospitals during the Iran-Iraq war. This study aimed to explore the experiences of civilian operating room nurses infield hospitals at the frontlines during the Iran-Iraq war.Methods: This study was conducted using historical research methodology and oral history method throughin-depthinterviews with civilian nurses engaged inoperating rooms during the war.Participants were selected via snowball sampling. This study investigated nursing practice in operating rooms as recountedby 16 civilian nurses who served in field hospitals inthe Iran-Iraq war during 1980- 1988.Results: This study had six descriptive themes focusing on the experiences of nurses engaged in operating rooms during theIran-Iraq war, and the results were obtainedin a narrative style. The main themes extracted from the study were"establishment of medical centers in the frontlines", "organization of emergency medical teams", "establishment of operating rooms", "nursing duties inthe operating room", "documentation of medical interventions", and "vulnerability of nurses in the operating room". Conclusion:The findings of this study will significantly enhance the current knowledge regarding operating room nursing practiceduring the Iran-Iraq war, enabling a greater understanding of this particular medical experience.

show abstract

“…For example, Bassett incorporated oral testimony into her research titled Guns and brooches 18 . Goodman, 19 Hemmings 20 and Biedermann 17 effectively integrated the use of oral testimony in their research to uncover the experiences of Australian nurses involved with the various world wars. Durdin researched the history of nursing in South Australia using oral testimony, in which she explained the humanistic side of nursing 17 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysing oral history: A new approach when linking method to methodology

Miller-Rosser

Robinson-Malt

Chapman

et al. 2009

Int J of Nursing Practice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper discusses a pragmatic and innovative approach to the data analysis of oral testimonies when used within a methodological framework of Historiography. Oral testimony is increasingly perceived as an exciting research method within the nursing discipline. However, the availability of a clear method to guide the researcher in their analysis of oral testimonies as the primary data for a Historiography is limited. A practical approach to the interpretation of oral testimony is needed to ensure the continued and successful use of Historiography as a valued research methodology in nursing science. The primary discussion revolves around the explication of a four‐stage method proposed as a pragmatic tool for the analysis of oral testimonies. Theoretical literature from the Historian, Paul Thompson and Pragmatist Philosopher, Richard Rorty is drawn upon to bring validity and reliability to the proposed method of analysis. This new technique can be easily used by nurses and many other disciplines in their efforts to efficiently analyse the qualitative data obtained from oral testimonies.

show abstract

Vietnam memories: Australian Army Nurses, the Vietnam War, and oral history

Cited by 15 publications

References 3 publications

“Stress wasn’t a word”: Australian nurses’ recollections of war-related trauma

“Stress wasn’t a word”: Australian nurses’ recollections of war-related trauma

Experiences of the civilian Iranian operating room nurses: A historical survey of the Iran-Iraq war

Analysing oral history: A new approach when linking method to methodology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About