Famous Nurses in History

By gkay
  • Dix, Dorothea

    Dix, Dorothea
    Early US nursing pioneer-predecessor & contemporary of Florence Nightingale
    Strong advocate for the mentally ill & for prisoners
    Civil War Superintendent of Union Army Nurses
    In 1843, she asked the MA legislature for reforms to end the inhumane conditions of the mentally ill
  • Bickerdyke, Mary Ann

    Bickerdyke, Mary Ann
    Known as "Mother Bickerdyke" to thousands of Union soldiers, 1861
    Famous for her ability to run army field hospitals
    The only woman allowed in Sherman's camps
  • Richards, Linda

    Richards, Linda
    America's 1st trained nurse, 1873
    Her diploma is in the archives of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC
    Created the 1st system of charting individual medical records for each patient
  • Mahoney, Mary E

    Mahoney, Mary E
    1st Black professional nurse in America, 1879
    Strong supporter of the establishment of the National Assoc of Colored Graduate Nurses, 1909
    Director of the Howard Orphan Asylum in New York, 1911
    Advocate of women's right to vote
  • Clara Barton

    Clara Barton
    Founder of the American Red Cross, 1881
    Known as "the angel of the battlefield" during the Civil War
    First accomplishments were as a respected & successful school teacher
  • Dock, Lavinia

    Dock, Lavinia
    Advocate of legislation to control nursing practice
    Outstanding contributor to nursing literature
    ANA Hall of Fame Inductee, 1976
    Author of one of the 1st nursing textbooks, Materia Medica for Nurses,1890
  • Wald, Lillian

    Wald, Lillian
    Founded the Visiting Nurses Service, 1893
    Founder of the Henry Street Settlement (Lower East Side, NY) 1895
    Champion of Public Health nursing
    Influential leader in city, state, & national politics
  • Nutting, Mary A

    Nutting, Mary A
    World's 1st professor of nursing, Teachers College at Columbia University, NY, 1907
    Head of the Dept of Nursing & Health at Teachers College, 1910-1925
    Honored for her outstanding contributions to nursing & nursing education
  • Robb, Isabel Hampton

    Robb, Isabel Hampton
    ANA's first president, 1911
    ANA Hall of Fame Inductee, 1976
    The nursing profession's prime mover in organizing at the national level
  • Sanger, Margaret

    Sanger, Margaret
    Advocate of birth control & women's health
    Founded the National Birth Control League, 1914
    Set up the 1st birth control clinic in the US, 1916
    Helped organize the 1st World Population Conference in Geneva, 1927
  • Henderson, Virginia

    Henderson, Virginia
    Graduated from the Army School of Nursing, 1921
    The "First Lady" of Nursing
    1st full-time nursing instructor in Virginia
    Pushed for the inclusion of psychiatric nursing in educational programs in Virginia
  • Goodrich, Annie

    Goodrich, Annie
    The first Dean of Yale School of Nursing (1923-1934). She obtained her nursing education at New York Hospital & received her RN in 1892. She also received the Yale Medal for "Outstanding Service to Yale" in 1953.
  • Breckinridge, Mary

    Breckinridge, Mary
    Established the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) in the Appalachian Mtns of KY, 1925
    FNS staff started the American Assoc of Nurse-Midwives, 1929
    Recognized as "the first to bring nurse-midwifery to the US"
  • Moffett, Ida V

    Moffett, Ida V
    Lifelong champion of compassionate care
    Advocated constant contact w/patients thru gentle words & comforting touch
    Advocated nursing professionalism & advanced academic training
    The Ida V Moffett School of Nursing named for her at Samford Univ; Birmingham, AL
    Appointed to the US Surgeon General's Consulting Group on Nursing, 1961
    Led the implementation of legislation which led to licensure for practical nurses, 1945
    Appointed to the Alabama State Board of Nurses' Examiners & Registration, 1946
  • Harvey, Lillian H

    Harvey, Lillian H
    Initiated the 1st baccalaureate degree in nursing program in AL-Tuskegee Institute, 1948
    Advanced the cause of black nurses & the nursing profession
    Dean of the Tuskegee Institue Nursing School, 1948-1973
  • Peplau, Hildegard

    Peplau, Hildegard
    Known as the "mother of psychiatric nursing"
    The only nurse to serve the ANA as executive director & later as president
    Published her book "Interpersonal Relations in Nursing" in 1952
  • Roger, Martha

    Roger, Martha
    Theorist-"Science of Unitary Man", 1970
    Editor, Nursing Science journal, c1963
    Founder/Executive Director of the 1st Visiting Nurse Service in Phoenix, AZ
  • Leininger, Madeleine

    Leininger, Madeleine
    Foundress of the worldwide Transcultural Nursing movement, 1974
    Theorist-developed the Cultural Care Diversity & Universality theory
    One of nursing's most prolific writers
  • Watson, Jean

    Watson, Jean
    Nursing Theorist-"The Philosophy & Science of Caring", published 1979
    Professor of Nursing & former Dean of the School of Nursing at the Univ of Colorado
    Founder of the Center for Human Caring
  • Orem, Dorothea

    Orem, Dorothea
    Nursing Theorist who developed "Orem's Self-Care Model", 1980
    Continues to be active in theory development
    Completed the 6th edition of Nursing: Concepts of Practice, publ by Mosby in Jan 2001