Photo Credit: Wonderslist

1. Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, lead the movement for what is now considered nursing. In 1849, Florence Nightingale created the first nursing school in London to give formal training and more in-depth training for nurses to better treat their patients. 

What separated Nightingale from other nurses is her first-hand experience healing wounded soldiers in the Crimean War in 1854. Nightingale and 38 other nurses provided care for British military soldiers and treated diseases such as cholera and typhus. She helped control the spread of disease in military hospitals through the improvement in sanity measures, including the surgical cap. 

2. Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, advocated for women’s rights after her mother died from having too many children. Sanger advocated for birth control so women could control how many children they wanted, and avoid dying from too frequent childbirth and infection like her mother. 

Sanger had to leave America for England to pursue her passions for female reproductive rights, as this was not allowed in America at the time. While in England, she joined movements like The Woman Rebel to further her cause. In 1916, she opened the first birth control clinic in America. She also helped found the International Planned Parenthood Federation, which was created in 1952. 

3. Mary Eliza Mahoney

Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first registered African American nurse in history. Her interest in nursing began in her teenage years and lead her to New England Hospital for Women and Children. There she served as an unofficial nursing aid in addition to a laundry assistant. 

Mahoney was eventually admitted to nursing school in 1879, at a time where only 3 other students made it through the courses. After her achievement, other African American students were able to join the nursing school. For her contribution to the nursing profession, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and ANA’s Hall of Fame in 1976. 

4. Clara Barton

Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, started out as a teacher during the American Civil War. It was during the Civil War that she felt compelled to be apart of a greater cause. This is why she is known in history as the Angel of the Battlefield, during which she risked her life to bring medical supplies to the battlefield to heal soldiers. 

This passion led her to travel with army ambulances and provide comfort for soldiers in need. After creating the American Red Cross, she was able to provide medical supplies for all soldiers in the United States. Over time, she expanded the Red Cross to help victims of natural disasters and give further aid. 

5. Dorothea Dix

Dorothea Dix was the founder of the first mental asylum in the United States. After teaching a class of female inmates in East Cambridge Jail, she was appalled by the treatment of the mentally disabled. In 1842, she brought this passion to the courts to fight for the rights of mentally disabled individuals. This has brought mental health nursing to where it is today. 

She also traveled to Europe to voice her advocacy for the mentally disabled. Dix made significant advances in what was previously known as “insanity” to more humane solutions. When the American Civil War began, she was named Superintendent of Union Army Nurses. She is historically one of the biggest advocates for the mental health community. 

6. Susie King Taylor 

Susie King Taylor, the first African American U.S. Army Nurse in the Civil War, was the child of slaves. Taylor was freed from their owner to be with her grandmother in Savannah, during which she learned to read and write. At the beginning of the American Civil War, she was assigned as a laundry assistant, while working there she began teaching freed African Americans.

Taylor became a nurse during this time and treated the African American soldiers who were wounded in battle. She wrote and published a book called Reminiscences, which detailed her time providing care for the 33rd United States Colored Troops. 

7. Linda Richards

Linda Richards, America’s first trained female nurse, pursued nursing after her parent’s death from tuberculosis. When her fiance died in the American Civil War, she decided to work as a nurse at Boston City Hospital. Eventually, she joined a nurse training program at the New England Hospital for Women and Children. She graduated from the program in 1873. 

Richards is known for developing the system of record-keeping in nursing today. This organizational method was used in both the U.S. and England. Then she went to Scotland to further her education and training. She returned to America and became the superintendent of Boston Training School in 1874. She turned their nurse training program into one of the best in America. 

8. Anna Caroline Maxwell

Anna Caroline Maxwell, called the American Florence Nightingale, founded the Army Nurse Corps. She provided care for wounded soldiers and introduced sanitary measures in military hospitals during the Spanish-American War. This drastically reduced patient deaths and the spread of disease. 

In 1876, Maxwell learned the nursing trade at the Training School of the Boston City Hospital. Her nursing achievements reached new levels in Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Then the Spanish-American war began and she treated soldiers while preventing the spread of measles, malaria, and other diseases. The display of Maxwell’s nursing skills during the war led Congress to establish the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. 

9. Hazel W. Johnson-Brown

Hazel W. Johnson-Brown was the first African-American Chief of the Army Nurse Corps. In 1979, Hazel earned the honorable rank of chief of Army Nurse Corps. This gave her the authority to lead about 7,000 men and women in the Army Reserves and Army National Guards. She was also able to oversee community hospitals in Italy, Japan, Panama, and the United States. 

Johnson-Brown retired from the military in 1983. After her military service, she taught as a Professor of Nursing in Georgetown University, Washington DC. She then retired from teaching in 1997 and still serves on healthcare administration boards in Washington DC. 

10. Ruby Bradley

Ruby Bradley was named the most decorated woman in the U.S. Military for her nursing achievements. For serving as an army nurse during World War II, she earned 34 medals for her military service to the country. Bradley joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1934 and was captured in 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Bradley and other nurses were moved to Santo Tomas Internment Camp where they provided care for other captives. The nurses, including Bradley, were called the Angels in Fatigue for having surgical equipment secretly brought into the camp to treat others. Eventually, the U.S. army rescued the nurses and Bradley, and she continued to serve as a nurse until 1963. 

Reference

https://www.pulseuniform.com/coffee-time/25-famous-nurses-past-to-present-wolrds-popular-nurse-professionals/