SOAR Project: MaKenzee Stone, History Education/Social Science

“The Cadet Nursing Corps: Solving America’s Nursing Shortage at the Outbreak of WWII”

MaKenzee Stone, Blaine, MN

History Education/Social Science Education

Mentor: Dr. Steven King

Shortly after World War II broke out, the United States was left with a nursing shortage. In response to this crisis, a woman by the name of Frances P. Bolton, a representative from Ohio, came up with a solution to help solve the lack of nurses here and overseas. She introduced the Nurse Training Act in March of 1943. This bill would speed up the education of nurses. Hospitals across the country responded to the call to train nurses. This was true in North Dakota and Barnes County. There were a few significant incentives for women to join the Cadet Nursing Corps. Women who joined would get their tuition paid for, free room and board, a monthly payment, and free uniforms. The women, after graduation, agreed to serve in a military hospital at home or abroad. Today, there are very few women alive from the Cadet Nurse Corps. Their full contribution to the war effort has not been adequately told.