From margins to centre: an oral history of the wartime experience of Iranian nurses in the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988

Background: The extensive nature of the Iraq-Iran war converted to a human tragedy with large casualties; it has affected nursing discipline dramatically. Aim: To analyse the history of the wartime experience of Iranian nurses in Iran-Iraq War. Method: The current study was conducted with oral history. The study sample consisted of 13 Iranian nurses who served in the war zones during the wartime. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit the participants. During the face-to-face interviews, participants were asked to describe their experience in the war zones during the war years. Data collection and analysis took place from April to August 2013, when saturation was reached. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed and then analysed with thematic content analysis. Results: Finally, five themes and 18 subthemes emerged from data analysis of significant statements from 17 interviews. The five emerged themes included (1) 'From margin to centre', (2) 'Development of referral care', (3) 'Personal and professional growth and development', (4) 'The emerging pillar of culture in war nursing' and (5) 'Threats to nursing at the war'. Conclusion and relevance to clinical practice: Nursing in Iran at wartime has a difficult path to development. There are powerful implications for clinical practice. It is recommended to continue collection, archiving and analysing the wartime experiences of Iranian nurses.