Legacy of the Role of Medicine and Nursing in the Holocaust: An Educational Intervention to Support Nursing Student Professional Identity Formation and Ethical Conduct

Abstract

Reflecting on history of medicine and nursing in the Holocaust scaffolds professional identity formation. Students grapple with 1) nurses' active participation in identifying/killing patients with mental and physical disabilities, camouflaged as "euthanasia" or "mercy killing" of German citizens and others, preceding mass murder of Jews and others at death camps; 2) involvement in unethical, cruel experiments; 3) resistance narratives; and 4) relevance for contemporary nursing. Impact of a seminar/ colloquium on historical knowledge and personal/professional relevance included reported increased historical awareness/ knowledge and themes of nurse as patient advocate/judicious obedience, importance of ethics/values adherence, and value of art/reflective writing for processing experience.