HOW DID THE NURSES COPE WITH EMOTIONAL STRESS?
The nurses had no
choice but to use what they had with them as foundations for their
mental health and support. What they had was each other and the
soldiers, therefore it can be presumed that without this support the
nurses would not have been able to cope with the pressure of being a
nurse and being responsible for the soldiers (eg: as a nurse having
to cope when a soldier is killed and you did not succeed in
attempting to recover them). The burden and pressure placed upon
nurses was also highly disregarded and dismissed. The emotional
issues that the nurses clearly did have, based on diary accounts, and
factual reports, was never compared to the physical hurt of the
soldiers, when in fact both situations are as hard to cope with as each
other.
We also have to recognise that the nurses were also in a dangerous place like the soliders. They were however generally unarmed. This would have added a tonne of stress and anxiety to their lives, knowing that they could not protect themselves. The soldiers however did keep it in their interests to assure safety to the nurses, and this somewhat settled the nurses as well.
We also have to recognise that the nurses were also in a dangerous place like the soliders. They were however generally unarmed. This would have added a tonne of stress and anxiety to their lives, knowing that they could not protect themselves. The soldiers however did keep it in their interests to assure safety to the nurses, and this somewhat settled the nurses as well.