Inspiration for Activism Part II –

• Activist since Nursing School at Skidmore College. In 1965 I led the movement to not to say the Nightingale pledge because it indicated subservience to physicians . A group of us wrote our own “Agnes Gelinas Pledge.”
• Active in the Colorado Nurses Association.  Co-founded “Nurses for Political Action” in the 1970’s. We advocated for advanced practice nurses having adequate job descriptions and equal pay to other professional with similar responsibilities and education. We had a case of sex discrimination that went all the way to the supreme court. Sadly, it lost.
• Instrumental in establishing programs and educating care providers in New York City and later Western Mass for a comprehensive way of treating dual diagnosed patients (substance abuse and mental illness) and for the treatment of impaired nurses.
• Led development of a research committee and the integration of research into the American Holistic Nurses Association; I also continue to push for more political health care advocacy by this group .
• Actively developing a theory, through grounded theory research, “Intentionality:  The Matrix  of Healing” for nursing with an emphasis on unitary and caring science.
• Currently working with a group on insuring Medicare for All and single payer health care in Western Mass and pushing for comprehensive low cost health care nationwide.