Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1294870
COMBATTING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE pecking order; personnel who had been in Vietnam longer were better-adjusted to the environment and the stress and danger it entailed. A Blessing and a Curse M ilitary service had both advantages and pitfalls for nurses. On the plus side, nurses enjoyed far greater authority and autonomy than in any civil- ian setting. At home, nurses were expected to be subservient to physicians and were still often saddled with menial chores. Most military nurses were commissioned officers, super- vising enlisted corpsmen and orderlies and sometimes acting as department heads. Particularly in an emergency, an Army or Navy nurse in Vietnam might be allowed (or even required) to perform procedures well beyond their normal scope of practice. Unfortunately, that autonomy and responsibility didn't erase gendered expectations. Military officials and many ser- vicemembers expected female nurses to be attractive as well as nurturing, arguing that sex appeal and femininity were important for morale. For female nurses, being constantly surrounded by men Over the course of its four seasons, "China Beach" won critical acclaim and a host of awards, including Golden Globe, Peabody, Emmy, Writer's Guild and People's Choice Awards, to name a few. The show tackled many topics that are just as important today as they were 30 or 50 years ago, including racism, drug and alcohol use, organiza- tional incompetence, stereotypical gender roles and sexuality. It also high- lighted some of the prob- lems facing real Army nurs- es of the war, occasionally interposing documentary footage or clips of inter- views with women who served in Vietnam. Emotional Triage ★ What about 1st Lt. (later Capt.) Colleen McMurphy? We don't learn a lot about her nursing skills, but we see enough to imagine what life was like for nurses in Vietnam. We see her constantly directing triage, sending medics here and there, examining injured patients on gurneys and deciding when surgery won't be able to help. Scenes often show her doing things like adjusting an IV, reading a paper chart or wielding forceps to remove shrapnel. McMurphy offers a world of support to everyone around her, which gradually takes a toll on her. When new nurses arrive, she is the one readying them to see traumatic battlefield injuries, reminding them that "boys will be boys" and teaching them that the sound of a helicopter over the outdoor showers means it's probably The show was highly acclaimed, although some nurse veterans objected to its emphasis on sex and romance. 2nd Lt. Grace Lilleg Moore arrived in Vietnam in 1968, at age 23. She joined the Army during her last year of nursing school. "China Beach" cont'd. IN COUNTRY 20 Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com October 5–November 9, 2020