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Fatima Saavedra HIST 347: Memo #3 The Bordon Option

The document discusses Rosa Borden's experience as a nurse during World War I and the difficult ethical dilemmas she faced. Soldiers who tried to commit suicide to escape the horrors of war were revived only to face further suffering. Borden helped one man die by suicide, questioning whether prolonging his suffering aligned with her oath to help patients. While nurses were meant to save lives, some felt mercy killings were justified when patients wanted death. Borden and other medical staff worked tirelessly in grim conditions with many wounded, doing their best to help soldiers despite limitations.

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Fatima Saavedra
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25 views3 pages

Fatima Saavedra HIST 347: Memo #3 The Bordon Option

The document discusses Rosa Borden's experience as a nurse during World War I and the difficult ethical dilemmas she faced. Soldiers who tried to commit suicide to escape the horrors of war were revived only to face further suffering. Borden helped one man die by suicide, questioning whether prolonging his suffering aligned with her oath to help patients. While nurses were meant to save lives, some felt mercy killings were justified when patients wanted death. Borden and other medical staff worked tirelessly in grim conditions with many wounded, doing their best to help soldiers despite limitations.

Uploaded by

Fatima Saavedra
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Fatima Saavedra

HIST 347
Memo #3 The Bordon Option

The Florence Nightingale Pledge was a form of protecting patients in times of need.
Doctors and nurses at the front would do anything they could to ease their patients affliction.
They would do anything they could to make sure they survived even if a terrible fate awaited
them. Soldiers were fixed up and dispatched to recover only to come back and go through the
same process again (that is if they kept on surviving). The soldiers were recyclable. Doctors and
nurses working at the hospital stations in war would become mindless machines doing their job
because if they stopped and analyzed their surroundings and their work area, then they would be
greeted by so many horrifying sites of wounded everywhere. They needed to be detached
because they didnt have the time to dwell while so many were injured. Doctors and nurses
during the war had to make many decisions regarding the lives of others, and sometimes the
decision to save someone didnt come too easily because in truth they were only aiding in
prolonging their suffering.
Borden mentions that many soldiers tried to commit suicide during World War I. These
soldiers just couldnt take the pressure, the death, or the atrocities of the war. They would try to
kill themselves only to be brought back to the hospital stations to be revived. In her essay Rosa,
Borden talks about a big burly man that tried to commit suicide. He shot himself in the throat,
missing the most vital places. Someone describes to her what is going to happen after he is
saved. He will be made to stand trial, and he will most likely be executed. It seems cruel. She
struggles with the fact of prolonging the mans suffering. This prospect brings up the question of
mercy killings. Why prolong the patients suffering when he will be killed anyway? Why are they
wasting time on a dead man?

Fatima Saavedra
HIST 347

In their oath, as nurses, they are sworn to devote themselves to the welfare of their
patients. Borden , even though she is not a professional nurse, is expected to follow the pledge.
She struggles with her belief of letting the big burly man die because that is what he wants,
death. She tries to go to the General for help in the matter, but the General says he can do
nothing. She reprimands herself because the man in front of her doesnt want to live. He doesnt
want to survive. She eventually helps him to his goal, but was it alright for her to do this? Isnt
she supposed to keep her patients alive? This is what one could call euthanasia, the act of killing
someone to relieve pain and suffering. Euthanasia remains a hotly debated topic today. Is it
really alright to allow someone to die because they dont want to suffer anymore? I believe that
Borden was in her right mind when she allowed that patient to die. Yes, she is supposed to aid in
the welfare of her patients, but sometimes, if that is what they want, then they should be allowed
to die. In times of war, I think this decision should have been made more often. Why waste
resources and time on these who were dead men anyway? It seems cruel to let someone die, but
if that is what they want, then its ultimately their choice. Its their life, and they should be able
to decide what happens. If one wants to go on technicalities, then one can see how mercy killing
could fit into the pledge since it doesnt really say anything about going against such a thing.
Isnt prolonging suffering breaking the pledge in some way as well? I feel like welfare is such a
broad term. The pledge doesnt specifically say anything against euthanasia, and I believe that
Borden could argue her case. She was protecting her patient. She wasnt doing anything they
didnt want her to. No matter what option she ends up going with, she would be criticized. Its
better to think that she did what she could to diminish this patients suffering. She thought of an
appropriate way to ensure that her patient was well cared for.

Fatima Saavedra
HIST 347

Borden also talks about how soldiers from the war are dehumanized. They are merely
body parts. They dont have a face or a name. Id say its easier to deal with the horror of the war
if you cant remember specific faces. The essay Conspiracy dwells into what a typical day was
in the clinic during the war. So many bodies and faces were strewn around the room, and we see
more of the inner workings of the hospital. Bodies and body parts seem to be everywhere in the
room and its hard to imagine how difficult it must have been to see so much gore. Borden
mentions that they worked well into the night on busy days. Borden also mentions in one of her
essays how the mortality rate at her hospital was considerably lower than at the others. I think
its safe to say that Borden tried to make her patients as comfortable as she could. She wanted to
diminish their suffering. One thing that kind of intrigued me was the fact that those soldiers with
simple wounds were left to wait it out. Its hard to think about a soldier lying on their cot in
immense pain without getting treated. The whole dilemma was a little troublesome, but I think it
was necessary within the circumstances of war; after all, saving people was the most important
thing.
Many doctors and nurses worked extremely hard in the war. They gave up meal times
and sleep to make sure that the soldiers had the best care they could offer. They cared for their
patients, and when it was inevitable that they would die, they would try to diminish their pain.
There were many aspects within the hospitals that can be criticized, but I think that ultimately
Borden and the other nurses and doctors that worked with her were just invested in saving the
lives of as many people as they could. There were special circumstances within the patients
themselves, but they tried their best in every occasion.

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