Cadet Nurse Corps

Assistant Editor-In-Chief: Michelle Lew

Overview
The Cadet Nurse Program was supervised by the United States Public Health Service (PHS)

After entering World War II, it became clear that America would soon face a critical shortage of nurses nationwide. As the war progressed, the demand for nurses increased dramatically. Somehow, massive numbers of nurse students had to be trained. Therefore, the instructional staff and the facilities of existing civilian schools of nursing needed to be strengthened. An emergency measure was considered faster and more economical than reinstituting the Army School of Nursing or building similar military schools based in hospitals. Additionally, the nurse students could receive accelerated training and their services could be used while they were in training. This way, more graduate nurses could be freed for military service overseas. These plans meant that civilian and military communities received substitute nurse care from student nurses on the home-front. The plans became concrete when Representative Frances P. Bolton of Ohio introduced a bill on March 29, 1943. The bill requested the establishment of a special government program to facilitate the training of nurses. The nurse applicants should be granted subsidization of nursing school tuition and associated expenses as well as expedited (i.e., very shortened) training. In exchange, it was demanded that the applicants provide “military or other Federal governmental or essential civilian (nursing) services for the duration of the present war.“ In addition, the bill provided certain funds for participating accredited nursing schools. This measure tried to ensure that as many nursing schools as possible would take part in the Cadet Nurse program. The Nurse Training Act (known as the Bolton Act) passed through Congress unanimously. The bill was signed by the President on June 15, 1943, and became effective as Public Law 74 on July 1, 1943. The Cadet Nurse Corps (originally designated the “Victory Nurse Corps“) would be administered by the United States Public Health Service (PHS). The Division of Nurse Education was established in the PHS to supervise the Cadet Nurse Corps and was answerable to US Surgeon General Thomas Parran, Jr.. Parran appointed Lucile Petry, who was an actual registered nurse (RN), Director of the Cadet Nurse Corps.

The Nursing schools throughout the country were informed of the new Corps and invited to join. Schools who wanted to take part in the Cadet Nurse program had to fulfill minimal requirements. The school had to be accredited and be affiliated with a hospital approved by the American College of Surgeons. The staff and the facilities had to be adequate, but superior standards were not required. Schools with substandard conditions were not rejected, but supported with funds from the Corps to improve their training possibilities. When the Cadet Nurse program ended, 1,125 from 1,300 of the Nation’s nursing schools had participated.