PTSD in Women Who Served as Nurses in Vietnam

Abstract

This chapter reviews nurses’ traumatic events and stressful war-time experiences. Onset of war-related PTSD and its persistence many years after nurses’ service were elevated among those who had pre-Vietnam vulnerabilities, particularly pre-war psychiatric disorders. The rate of war-related PTSD onset among nurses was higher than that among male veterans with low probable combat exposure; and the odds of its persistence were nearly four times higher among nurses than among male veterans with moderate probable combat exposure. Likely sources of war-related stress among the nurses included their service in the operating room, their personal risk of enemy attack, and of sexual harassment and attack by fellow American soldiers. Nevertheless, the large majority of nurses reported a strong positive effect of military service on their lives.