Final answer:
Margaret Macdonald played a significant role in organizing Canadian military nursing during a critical time, which influenced nursing education and practice, including the establishment of three-year nursing programs.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first three-year nursing program in North America was established by the visionary leader and nursing pioneer Margaret Macdonald in 1914, although there is not a direct citation linking her to the inception of the three-year program, her leadership in the field of nursing during that period was influential. Macdonald, who joined Georgina Pope as the second nurse to receive a permanent appointment in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1906, played a pivotal role in organizing and selecting nurses for military service during the Great War. Her significant contributions to Canadian military nursing helped shape the evolution of the nursing profession during a critical period of expansion and reform.
While not directly related to the establishment of the program, information on nursing during this time can be reflected in the works and records of Macdonald and other Canadian nurses such as Ella Mae Bongard and Clare Gass. Their diaries and official records, like those found in the Canadian Museum of Civilization and listed in the sources, help paint a vivid picture of the history of nursing in Canada and its impact on the development of nursing education and practice in North America.