The U.S. Cadet Corps Nursing Program
Please note the information provided on this page is for informational purposes only; PRN is not directly affiliated with e U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps.
The role of the Cadet Nurses in the history of Nursing in the U.S. has sadly been unrecognized and underappreciated.
The U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps commenced on July 1, 1943, to address the critical shortage of nurses. Lucile Petry, RN, director of the U.S. Public Health Services’ Division of Nurse Education in 1943 wrote “The country’s nursing shortage must be attacked as a production problem. As essential to the war as are planes, guns, and ships, the nurse is a guardian of the national health and welfare of our fighting men (Schubert, page 5).”
A broad recruitment campaign to attract women to join the Cadet Nurse Corps included posters, newsreels, newspaper and magazine advertising, and radio announcements telling young women they could get a free professional education “with a future” (Schubert, page 5). The Cadet Nurses received an accelerated course of training, 30 months instead of 36 months, to graduate the nurses more quickly. The Federal Government covered the costs of tuition, room, and board, provided a monthly stipend, and the U.S. Cadet Nurse uniforms. These young women came from families hard hit by the Great Depression, and most did not have the means to pay for nursing school (Cadet). The Federal Government provided scholarships and financial support for the student nurses in exchange for a pledge to serve the country as nurses for the duration of the war. In 1945, Cadet Nurses were providing 80% of the nursing care in U.S. hospitals (Schubert, page 6).
Most of the nursing education in the U.S. was provided by hospital schools. To participate in the Cadet Nurse Corps, the schools had to be accredited and willing to conform to standards. Ultimately, 1,125 of the nation’s 1,300 nursing schools participated.
Facts About the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps
The U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps was the nation’s first integrated uniformed U.S. service corps, with a non-discrimination clause written in the act that created it.
The U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps comprised the largest and youngest group of uniformed women to serve their country during World War II and the early postwar years (1943-1948) (Cadet Nurse, page, xi).
The U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps law was in effect as of July 1, 1943, and gave women as young as 17 years old the opportunity to serve their country in uniform as nurses (Cadet Nurse, page xi).
The Cadet Nurse Corps provided over 124,000 nurses to care for service members and civilians during World War II. The U.S. Cadet Corps graduated its last class in 1948 after the war.
The formation of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps was recognized by the American Hospital Association helping to prevent the collapse of civilian nursing care.
Unfortunately, veterans of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps have never been recognized for their service to the country.
The U.S. Cadet Nurses remain the only uniformed corps members from World War I not to be recognized as veterans (Schubert, page 3).
REFERENCES
Robinson TM, Perry PM. Cadet Nurse Stories. SIGMA Theta Tau International; 2001.
Schubert R. The push to recognize the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps as veterans. Washington State Nurses Association. Published November 27, 2019. Accessed December 21, 2023. https://www.wsna.org/news/2019/the-push-to-recognize-the-u-s-cadet-nurse-corps-as-veterans