Virginia Henderson (1897 – 1996)

Inspiration for Activism!

Known as the quintessential nurse of the 20th century because of her abiding commitment to the fundamental values of nursing.
Prolific author of works that have become “the soul of modern nursing.”
Her definition of nursing became the internationally adopted statement of nursing (watch her recite this definition in the video below!) — “The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge”
Authored three of the “Principles and Practice of Nursing” text that elaborated on the knowledge base necessary to act in terms of her definition of nursing.
Conducted a survey and assessment of nursing research that shifted nursing research away from studying nurses to studying the differences that nurses can make in people’s lives.
Published a “Nursing Studies” Index that captured the intellectual history of the first six decades of the 20th century.

More information here and here and here. Also see A Virginia Henderson Reader: Excellence in Nursing, edited by Edward Holleran

Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888)

Inspiration for Activism!

Proponent of human rights, abolitionist, spokesperson for children and families, and a nurse.
Became a writer to provide income for her impoverished family.
At the age of thirty began service as a nurse at the Union Hospital at Georgetown in December, 1862.
Author of a book, published in 1863, about Civil War era nursing called Hospital Sketches (available here; full text available here)
Authored “Little Women” in 1868 – a book that is really about the empowerment of women and girls around the world.
Challenged gender roles and stereotypes; wrote fiery novels under pen name A.M. Barnard; is known to have stated: “I am more than half-persuaded that I am a man’s soul put by some freak of nature into a woman’s body … because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man.”

More information here and here and here and here

1940 Louisa May Alcott 5c stamp

Inspiration for Activism!

Strong advocate for the rights of minority populations in nursing and healthcare, and overcoming the persistent effects of racism and other ‘isms.”
Appointed in 1986 as dean of the School of Nursing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, a historically black university; became Vice Chancellor in 1994.
While in North Carolina, served on a number of public bodies (including the Governor’s Task Force on Nursing Shortage, the North Carolina Commission on Health Services, and the Board of Directors of the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program).
Two-term past President of the American Nurses Association (ANA) 1996-2000.
General secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the United Kingdom’s largest professional union of nurses, from June 2001 to January 2007.
Member of the UK delegation to the World Health Assembly; of the Commonwealth Nurses Federation (CNF); and of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) from 2000-2007; also served as vice chair of the Brussels-based European Federation of Nurses Association (EFN).
Named by the editors of Modern Healthcare as one of the 100 most influential in healthcare in 2015.

More information here and here and here.

Inspiration for Activism!

In 1889, became the first Superintendent of Nurses and Principal of the Training School at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Wrote the first nursing textbook: Nursing: Its Principles and Practices, published in 1893.
Participated in founding the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses, which later became the National League for Nurses.
Active in the International Council of Nurses and the Committee to Secure by Act of Congress the Employment of Graduate Women Nurses in the Hospital Service of the US Army, which worked toward the establishment of the Army Nurse Corps.
First President of the Nurses’ Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada, which would later become the American Nurses Association.
Helped to found the American Journal of Nursing.
Instrumental in establishing the course in Hospital Economics at Teachers College, Columbia University in 1899.
Worked to secure a place for professional nurses within the Red Cross Nursing Service.
Helped found the Cleveland Visiting Nurse Association.
Wrote the books Nursing Ethics in 1900 and Educational Standards for Nurses in 1907.

More information here and here.

Inspiration for Activism!

Tireless advocate for African American women and nurses; eventually achieving integration of Black nurses in the American Nurses Association (1948)
Enlisted the help of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and led a national letter-writing campaign to persuade President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other political leaders of the need to fully desegregate the armed forces, including the U.S. Armed Forces Nurses Corp in World War II..
In 1935, one of the founders of the National Council of Negro Women
In 1914, earned her nursing credential at the Freedmen’s Hospital School of Nursing (now the Howard University College of Nursing) in Washington, D.C.
Became Director of Nursing at the Booker T. Washington Sanitarium — the first hospital in Harlem to treat African-Americans with tuberculosis.
Conducted research on the healthcare needs of Harlem resident, leading to the Harlem Committee of the New York Tuberculosis and Health Association.
Served as executive secretary of the National Association for Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) from 1934 to 1949.