The role of nursing in the Iran- Iraq war a scoping review

During the Iran–Iraq conflict (1980-1988), health care demands required the involvement of a substantial number of medical personnel, with nursing professionals being particularly prominent. At that time, nursing began to develop as a discipline in the Near East and played a crucial role in care of the wounded. This aim of this study was to identify the roles carried out by nurses in the treatment of casualties during the Iran–Iraq War. A scoping review was conducted following PRISMA ScR guidelines, utilizing Scopus, PubMed, Cuiden Plus, SciELO, and Dialnet databases. Search strings included “Iran Iraq war” AND “nurs*”, “Iran Iraq war wounds” AND “nurs*”, and “Iran Iraq war wounds” AND “hospital*”, yielding a total of 15 articles The results reflect the presence of teaching, managerial, and caregiving roles in the Iran Iraq war, including their specific characteristics. Healthcare was organized with three clearly differentiated levels of care. Nurses played an essential role in caring for injured soldiers, most commonly those affected by chemical agents (e.g., nerve gas, mustard gas, and cyanide) and maxillofacial wounds. Their responsibilities also extended to teaching and to supporting surgical care. These findings allow comparative analysis with other conflicts, such as the Bosnian War, demonstrating the remarkable adaptability of prehospital nursing to diverse emergency needs. Armed conflicts require continuous organizational, structural, and educational adjustments and updates of prehospital nursing. This situation highlights the need to promote specialization in prehospital and emergency nursing to enhance professional effectiveness and ensure patient survival.