Reasons Women Became Nurses
Women not only found many different ways to help out and volunteer as nurses, but they also had a lot of reasons for doing so
- Some women, called "camp followers", wanted to follow their sons, husbands, or brothers into the war to care for them
- Women wanted to become nurses because they thought it was a good way to prove their usefulness and patriotism during the war
- They wanted to help by coming in and changing the conditions of the hospitals because they were so disgusted by them
- There was an act that was passed by the Confederate Congress that stated since women were an available workforce, there should be given “preference in all cases to females where their services may best serve
the purpose”