Only to free up more men for the front lines.
It was more like philanthropy. The army medical systems were very primitive, so some women started volunteering as nurses to help recovering soldiers.
You think there was any shortage of men to provide medical aid? My oh my, how did armies survive without female nurses over the last few thousand years?
if you were to get a wound severe enough to remove your ability to wash yourself or use the bathroom unassisted, would you rather:
a. have a man give you a spongebath
b. have a woman give you a spongebath
c. let the accumulating filth infect a wound
You think there was any shortage of men to provide medical aid?
There was a shortage of men willing to. The armies had surgeons, but not much in the way of long term care if you lost a limb or were otherwise put out of the fight.
My oh my, how did armies survive without female nurses over the last few thousand years?
As in how did the casualties survive? They didn't. A lot of them died of treatable wounds.
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