Creating cadres of soviet nurses, 1936-1941

Abstract

This chapter explores the development of Soviet nursing during the period 1936-1941, a time when moves towards greater professionalization took place. But this was also a time when the Soviet Union underwent militarization, and nursing was a part of campaigns to involve more people in medical work, be that first aid courses or nursing. These divergent trends-professionalization and militarization-impacted nursing and this chapter examines if and how these were reconciled. It also considers the role of the nurse within a gender narrative that positioned nurses-predominantly women-as both modern and traditional. It argues that nurses were active participants in the professionalization of nursing in the late 1930s and contributed to creating a more inclusive vision of Soviet health care.