Members of the John Bartram Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution recently enjoyed a presentation from a member of the World War II Cadet Nurse Corps Program.
Peggy Russo, a retired registered nurse and member of The Villages Nurses Club, spoke about her experiences in the program that was instituted during WW II to educate and provide for the increase of nurses that were anticipated to be needed to care for soldiers wounded in battle.
Congresswoman Frances Bolton of Ohio sponsored legislation that
provided for the “fast tracking” of nursing education. The bill was signed by President Roosevelt in 1943 and called “the most significant nursing legislation of our time.” It clearly played a major role in supporting the United States’ effort during the final years of the war.
In 1944 at age 16, Russo was accepted into the program, which lasted 30 months. The first nine months were spent learning and working with patients.
Russo lived in the nurses’ residence and received a stipend of $15 a month. The stipend covered the cost of nurses’ shoes and white stockings.
It was anticipated that Russo would join a branch of the military upon
completion of the program. She already had selected the Navy when the war ended. She later went on to continue her nursing education, meet her husband and raise her family. But, Russo pointed out, a nurse is always a nurse.