Printer-friendly Version

Page 1 of 6

The Cadet Nurse Corps, 1943-48

In 1943, facing a shortage of nurses that had been exacerbated by World War II, the Federal Government established the Cadet Nurse Corps within the Public Health Service (PHS). Between the years 1943 and 1948, 124,065 nurses were graduated from the Cadet Nurse Corps, making the Corps one of the largest and most fruitful Federal nursing programs in history. In addition, the Corps allocated subsidies to nursing schools that resulted in improved school facilities and curriculums, enlarged nursing faculties, and enriched post-graduate nursing education.

Creation of the Cadet Nurse Corps. When the United States entered World War II, American nursing leaders began to debate what measures were needed to supply nurses for the war. With pressure from nursing organizations and other interest groups, Congress passed the Labor-Security Agency Appropriation Act of 1942, which appropriated funds to nursing schools and assigned the responsibility for allocating these funds to the Public Health Service. However, funding for scholarships and courses was insufficient to the needs, and there were no centralized recruiting efforts. As the war progressed, the demand for nurses increased, but other more attractive, higher-paying jobs for women were usurping the pool of prospective nursing candidates.

Working with nursing groups, Representative Frances Payne Bolton of Ohio, a long-time champion of nursing education, introduced a bill that would establish the Cadet Nurse Corps (originally designated the Victory Nurse Corps) to persuade more young women to join the ranks of the nursing profession. The Corps proposed to grant scholarships and stipends to qualified applicants in exchange for providing "military or other Federal governmental or essential civilian (nursing) services for the duration of the present war." It would also provide certain funds to participating state-accredited nursing schools.

continue