Influential Women in Nursing

  • Clara Barton

    Cared for soldiers in The Crimean War, founder of the Red Cross
  • Dorthea Dix

    Superintendent of the Union Army during the Civil War. Advocate for the mentally ill.
  • Mary Elizabeth Mahoney

    The first African-American Registered Nurse.
  • Lilian Wald

    Started The Henry Street Settlement in NYC, where she taught health and hygiene to immigrant women.
  • Mary Adelaide Nutting

    Principle and Superintendent of nurses at John Hopkins Hospital School of Nursing.
  • Isabel Hampton Robb

    Organized the Nurses' Association Alumnae, which later became The American Nurses Association in 1911 she was the first president of this organization.
  • Linda Richards

    Earlier 1900's beacme the First School Nurse.
  • Livinia Dock

    Co-Author of History of Nursing. Known for her writing as an advocate of legislation to control nursing pratice.
  • Margaret Sanger

    Opened the first birth control clinic.
  • Virginia Henderson

    Graduated from the Army of Nursing in this year, became famous for her definiton of nursing. "Assisting individuals to gain independence in relation to the performance of activities contributing to health or its recovery."
  • Ida V. Moffet

    The Ida V. Moffet School of Nursing was founded as a hospital diploma program.
  • Annie Goodrich

    First women Dean and Professor at Yale University.
  • Mary Breckinridge

    Established Frontier Nursing Services the staff started the American Association of Nurse- Midwives.
  • Martha Rogers

    Public health nurse, Director of education in Hartford Conneticut.
  • Hidegard Peplau

    Known as the mother of Psychiatric Nursing. In this year she completed her seminal work "Interpersonal Relations in Nursing"
  • Madeleine Leninger

    Developed Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality.
  • Dorthea Orem

    Upgraded practical nursing training at the Department of Health and Education, and Welfare. Known for her definition of nursing pratice and guidelines for developing cirricula for advocation of practical nursing.
  • Jean Watson

    In this year her theory of nursing was published, "The Philosophy and Science of Caring."