My earliest influence on my decision to be a nurse came from a neighbor who was a nurse in Vietnam. Many of the most famous nurses were heroes from a previous war. There is very little written about a Vietnam nurse leader or about nurse heroes from that era. I began researching nurses and the Vietnam War and I soon realized that nurses who served in Vietnam would have gone virtually unrecognized if not for an army nurse named Lynda Van Devanter.
Lynda Van Devanter is most well known for her 1983 autobiography "Home before Morning". According to Oliver(2002), Van Devanter was both honored and vilified for her honesty in her book about women who served in Vietnam.
In her book, Van Devanter described the horrors of war as a 22 year old Army surgical nurse and detailed some accounts of drinking, drugs and partying that often occurred as the medical personnel dealt with the traumas of war (Kaufman, 2002). Kaufman goes further in stating that "critics, who called themselves "Nurses against Misrepresentation" (NAM), were concerned that her account "could leave relatives of dead soldier's believing that their kin had not received the best possible treatment". Van Devanter remained resolute in telling her story.
According to Oliver (2002), In 1987 VanDevanter was quoted in an interview, "in Vietnam, some of us did things that we were not so proud of at the time. But we were under enormous stress, physically, emotionally and spiritually". Van Devanter dedicated her book to "all of the unknown women who served forgotten in their wars" (Kaufman, 2002). Van Devanter 's autobiography went on to be the inspiration for the television series "China Beach".
Van Devanter struggled with PTSD, alcoholism and unemployment following the war. After finally receiving counseling from a program known as "walking through Vietnam", Van Devanter wrote her autobiography and brought to light the plights of female veterans.
According to Kaufman (2002), "Van Devanter's pained account of her life as an Army nurse in Vietnam focused attention of the burdens of American servicewoman". At the Vietnam Veterans of America (AVV), Van Devanter founded and directed the "Women's Project of the Vietnam Veterans of America" in Washington, D.C. in 1979 (Thomson, 2003).
Kaufman (2002) stated that "the project oversaw studies that underscored her view that although Vietnam veterans in general were a "forgotten minority," the women who had served as nurses were "the most forgotten".
In 1980 and 1981, Van Devanter testified before Congress and other government agencies on behalf of the 7,456 women Vietnam veterans (Oliver, 2002).
In 1982, she was named "Woman of the Year" by the American Association of Minority Veteran Program Administrators (Thomson, 2003). Van Devanter went on to author other works, including a book of poems about Vietnam nurses.
She died at the age of 55 in 2002, due to systemic collagen vascular disease that was thought by some to be due to exposure to Agent Orange (Oliver, 2002).
Lynda Van Devanter may have not contributed to nursing leadership in a traditional sense. However, through her writings, Van Devanter continues to offer hope for those nurses that have seen and experienced the ravages of a war. Her story helped to change the culture of how nurses in the war were treated in public and by the government. In speaking up about a generation of nurses that were suffering in silence, she initiated a process of healing that continues today for all American's that serve.
References
Kaufmann, M. T. (2002, November 23). Lynda Van Devanter, nurse who became chronicler of wartime pain, dies at 55. The New York Times . Retrieved December 1, 2010 from http://www.nytimes.com
Oliver, M. (n.d). Lynda Van Devanter Remembered. Retrieved Decemeber 1, 2010, from Country Joe's Place: http:// www.countryjoe.com/devanter_obit.htm
Thomson, G. (n.d.). Biography - Van Devanter, Lynda (Margaret) ( 1947-2002_. Retrieved December 1, 2010, from Comtemporary Authors: www.gale.cengage.com
Van Devanter, L .,(2001). Home before morning: The story of an army nurse in Vietnam. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press
