Nursing Between the Lines: The Social Reflection of the Profession in the Turkish Press (1929–1954)

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the social discourse and representations of the nursing profession in Turkey between 1929 and 1954.Methods: This qualitative study used data from the Muteferriqa Digital Newspaper Archive, covering newspapers published between 1929 and 1954. Historical document analysis and critical discourse analysis were applied concurrently. A total of 782 newspaper issues were screened, and 126 news items meeting the inclusion criteria were analyzed. The coding process was carried out independently by three researchers, and the emergent discursive patterns were synthesized under four period-based thematic clusters.Results: The findings revealed that representations of nursing in the press between 1929 and 1954 were structured around four distinct discursive clusters. During the 1930s, nursing was portrayed as a domain of “moral service,” a “marker of civilization,” and a legitimate public role aligned with the Republic’s modernization project; reports on the Hilâl-i Ahmer Nursing School emphasized care work through themes of compassion, refinement, and national responsibility. In the wartime period of 1939–1945, discourse became markedly militarized, framing nursing through notions such as “the health army,” “service to the nation,” and “self-sacrificing service workers,” with discipline and mobilization becoming central. Between 1946 and 1950, the postwar reconstruction context foregrounded professionalization, including extended training programs, strengthened medical curricula, and a growing emphasis on professional competence. By 1950–1954, nursing had gained heightened public visibility; World Nurses Day celebrations and publications highlighting sacrifice represented the profession both as a modern field of expertise and as a role linked to emotional labor and ideals of service.Conclusion: Early Republican press discourse portrayed nursing as a multilayered construct in which professionalization narratives coexisted with traditional gendered expectations. The findings indicate that the historical construction of the nursing profession in Turkey was shaped through the intersection of modernization goals and enduring societal gender norms.