Nursing during the First World War: a historical study on front line rescue skills (1915-1918)

Introduction: the Great War was the first major struggle between economic and industrial forces. Italy entered the war on May 24, 1915, one year after the conflict began; an effort that cost the Italians dearly. The Italian military health system's organization was inadequate, therefore volunteer nurses from the Italian Red Cross were trained and employed. The goal is to examine various aspects of nursing history from 1915 to 1918 in order to better understand the role and talents of nursing personnel on battlefields and in rear hospitals.

Materials and Methods: we used the historical method in our study, doing research in historical archives and institutional digitized sources. Chabod, Droysen, and Bloch provided the methodology for historical research, as well as the classification and interpretation of sources.

Results: the Italian Military Healthcare Organization, which provided care for the injured person, had to make a staged travel. The Italian Red Cross nurses were found to have good training in both hospital nursing and war zones, aiding medical staff and administering first aid to the injured on the front lines.

Conclusions: the study emphasized the relevance of intentional recovery of historical memory in nursing care as a tool for understanding professional identity and strengthening the profession's ethical and cultural foundations. Although the nursing profession remained unseen, professional identity began to emerge shortly after the First World War.