Abell was one of the founding members of the Australasian Trained Nurses Association and later had a desire to serve in the war as a nurse. Abell trained at
Newcastle Hospital in 1898 and hence worked there. Before the war, she worked as a private nurse for Thomas Cook of Turanville, a famous cattle breeder. She then travelled to England to join the
Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve (QAIMNSR).
First World War Abell made her own way to Europe, embarking on 18 September 1915 and arriving in Tilbury on 1 November. She volunteered her services to the military authorities and was assigned to
Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve. She was designated to a military hospital at
Talence, in the southwest of France near Bordeaux, then was transferred to No. 32 Stationary Hospital in the north of France at
Boulogne. She was then appointed for hospital work on one of the canals and was frequently under fire, and as a result she was moved to No. 14 General Stationary Hospital at Boulogne, and was moved again to serve duty at a casualty clearing station in the danger zone. She received her ARRC on 15 May 1919 by
George V at the
Buckingham Palace. The ARRC is awarded for exceptional service in military nursing. Despite her harrowing experiences of war, Abell was quoted in the
Sydney Morning Herald on 17 July 1918 as saying, "Much as I would like to come home, I do not wish to leave the boys or my work." She was discharged in April 1919, and returned to Australia on 25 September 1919. ==Later life==