Louisa May Alcott: Nurses During The Civil War

Civil War battlefield surgery, surgeons, and nurses were more common on the battlefield during the war because of the severity of the injuries and sickness from disease. Civil War battlefield surgery came to be known as butchery, though it saved many lives of soldiers and helped them possibly get back on the battlefield. The most common surgery that surgeons performed was amputations. Most deaths didn’t occur because of the amputation itself but because of the “surgical fevers,” which usually developed during the septic state of surgery.
Surgery as a treatment for injuries incurred by soldiers on the battlefield during the Civil War was brutal. According to the Ohio State University History Exhibition, 70% of war wounds were extremities, which is why amputation was the most common choice. Soldiers wounded in the belly, head, or chest were often were set aside because they would most likely die. This …show more content…
during the Civil War. Louisa’s personality was positive and she was outgoing. Louisa had a fine mind, if she did not have large opportunities for scholastic instruction. She always enjoyed the benefit of intellectual society and converse with noble minds. She loved expression in writing, and her letters are filled with wit and humor, keen criticism, and noble moral sentiments. She is also known for her quick, impatient temper.
A day in the life of Nurse Alcott was mainly a routine but she always was on her toes for new wounded soldiers. It was her job to make sure the patients have eaten, drank, and were rested before the the surgeons did their rounds. Her job was mainly a routine of wash, dress, feed, warm, and nurse all while waiting for more injured incoming soldiers, as she explains in her book “Hospital Sketches.” She also explains in her book, “I had managed to sort out the patients in such a way that I had what I called my “duty room”, my “pleasure room”, and my “pathetic