Category: Passion Blog

Of all the nurses I’ve previously written about, I found that researching and learning about Brigadier General Hazel Johnson-Brown has been the most profound and fascinating. She encapsulates what I strive to be as, not only a nurse, but a leader. As a pioneer for African American women in the Army, she had many outstanding accomplishments which took much perseverance, passion, and dedication to achieve.

Hazel Johnson-Brown was born in 1927 and wanted to study nursing from a young age. She was declined entrance into the West Chester School of Nursing because she was African American. She deciding then to go to Harlem Hospital School of Nursing, where she graduated in 1950. Starting her career off with prejudice only made her more dedicated to graduating and becoming a nurse.

She then became intrigued by the Army and the numerous pathways within the military. She enlisted in 1955 and served on the first female medical surgical unit at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Also, during her first tour of duty she had the opportunity to serve in Japan. She decided to not reenlist after her tour ended, therefore working at a civilian hospital once more. She once again enlisted while attaining her bachelor’s degree in Nursing and after her Master’s in Nursing Education.

During Vietnam, she was involved in the special assignment MUST, which focused on mobile hospitals that were usable during the war. Additionally, Johnson served as the first nurse on staff at the Medical Research and Development Command and she was also the director of the Field Sterilization Equipment Development Project at Valley Forge General Hospital. She eventually got her PhD from the Catholic University of America. After, Johnson served as the chief nurse of the 121st Evacuation Hospital in Seoul, Korea. In 1979, she became the 16th chief of the Army Nurse Corps and was promoted to brigadier general. She became the first African American woman to become a brig. general, which is a major accomplishment in the Army.

Her work has influenced my life massively, as I want to eventually join the Army as a nurse. She also implemented ROTC guidelines for nursing students, which has affected me during my time in ROTC. Her dedication towards the field of nursing not only affected me, but also my aunt, who served around the same time as her as a Army Nurse during the Vietnam War.

While the other pioneers: Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, Mary Breckinridge, Mary Mahoney, and Luther Christman maybe had more overall contributions to nursing, I wanted to end my blog posts with a pioneer who meant a lot to me and my past relatives. As I continue my career into nursing, I want to bring an awareness to these pioneers and past nurses to display the massive history of the nursing field and how it has molded into present day. These figures are not only huge in the nursing field, but universally as they taught basic morality and basic characteristics necessary to a stable and strong society. Thank you for reading all my blogs and hopefully you have learned more about the history of nursing pioneers!

“Brig. Gen. Hazel Johnson Brown.” Army Women’s Foundation, https://www.awfdn.org/trailblazers/brig-gen-hazel-johnson-brown/.

All of the women I have written about are pioneers, not only of nursing, but also for other contributions such as women’s suffrage, equal pay, and ending gender discrimination — especially in times of war. Not only was Mary Mahoney a pioneer in nursing, she was the first African American to graduate with a formal education in nursing. She graduated from the New England Hospital for women and children in 1879, only eleven years after the ratification of the 14th amendment in 1868, and only fourteen years after the end of the Civil War. Her dedication to her patients showed her perseverance while facing discrimination.

She was the first generation of her family not born into slavery, which only increased her drive to promote racial and gender equality. Initially, she did not work as a nurse in a hospital, but was employed for an array of jobs at the New England hospital. Finally, at the age of 33, she was accepted into the nursing program. A fact I found most interesting in my research was her nursing class started with 42 students, but only 4 graduated the 16-month program. To put that into further perspective, only 9.5% of the nursing students graduated. The NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) first time passing rate is 95.47% at Penn State Behrend. A huge difference between those percentages. I am not negatively portraying the nursing program at Penn State Behrend, just comparing how intense a 16-month program is compared to a 4-year program and she was able to complete it when most of her peers were unable.

She additionally was a member the the American Nurses Association, but dealt with discrimination from them. She then cofounded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses to promote the advancement of African American nurses. She worked in the nursing profession for 40 years, working at a private practice, aiding in-home patients, mostly wealthy, white families. Mahoney displayed key characteristics that have been portrayed by other pioneers in the nursing career: determination,  perseverance, courage, dedication.

Not only did she pioneer in the nursing field, she was a leader in the women’s suffrage movement. She advocated for equal rights, including the right to vote. Once the 19th Amendment was ratified, she was one of the first women to register and vote in an election. Her contributions have impacted generations of African American equality and gender equality in the United States.

Due to Mahoney’s dedication to nursing and women’s equality, she was inducted into the American Nursing Association Hall of Fame and the Women’s Hall of Fame. She also has an award named after her, the Mary Mahoney Award, which honors nurses “who promote integration within their field.” Her contributions to the nursing field were superior to many at the time. She was known for her bedside manner and her integrity towards her patients. While she was discriminated against, she treated everyone, including her patients with respect not always reciprocated. She serves as a role model not only for future nurses, but everyone regardless of profession.

Spring, Kelly. “Mary Mahoney.” National Women’s History Museum. National Women’s History Museum, 2017.

In the first two blogs, I wrote about nurses who served in Crimean War and the Civil War, Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton respectively. They helped saved the lives of soldiers by improving sanitary conditions during medical treatment. Also during this time, the mother and infant mortality after birth was incredibly high. With modern medicine and the foundation of home health services, mortality rates have decreased dramatically due to one woman, Mary Breckinridge.

Breckinridge was born in 1881 to a US Diplomat and was able to travel to many countries while receiving an education in nursing. She began her career helping French mothers and children post-World War I, after the death of both her children before the age of 5. Unlike previous nurses, she was educated as a nurse at a young age without patriarchal strife. After becoming a registered nurse (R.N.), she additionally specialized in midwifery in England. Now, in other countries at the time, mother and child mortality rates were much lower than in the United States. One of the biggest problems was getting care to rural families in the United States. Breckinridge wanted to change those statistics by bringing infant and mother care to individual’s homes. 

Breckinridge founded the Frontier Nursing Service in the mid-1920s to aid impoverished and rural families with neonatal and mother care. These nurses, including Breckinridge, would ride on horseback from family to family to care for these patients. Think about that for a second… riding on horseback for miles a day, home to home, to care for newborns and mothers. Although very tough and tiresome on the nurses, they increased care for these patients, therefore decreasing mortality rates. After the success of the Frontier Nursing Service, it expanded to more area, thereby increasing care for more mothers and children while expanding care to patients with tuberculosis . Additionally, the Frontier Nursing Service founded the first midwifery school in the United States, allowing for an increase in midwives in the area. 

Sadly, while riding to a home one day, Breckinridge fell off her horse and broke vertebrae in her back. She was left permanently hurt by this fall, but it did not stop her from continuing expanding medical care to women and children. Her dedication and persistence is seen, even today, as home health service is still instilled in the healthcare industry. My mom, a registered nurse, works as a home health nurse for neonatal and mother care after birth; she goes from home to home to aid new mothers and their babies, making certain of their health and answering questions. This type of care provides a more individualized care for patients while allowing patients to stay in the comfort of their homes. 

Home health is not solely for mom/baby care anymore, but has expanded to geriatrics, hospice, physical therapy, and many other specialties. All of these can be traced back to Breckinridge and her founding of the Frontier Nursing Service. She revolutionized American healthcare by decreasing mother and child mortality and bringing care to families’ homes

“Mary Breckinridge Biography (1881-1965).” Faqs.org, http://www.faqs.org/health/bios/50/Mary-Breckinridge.html.

In Europe, Florence Nightingale established women’s roles in nursing with calling for equality in the workplace. In the United States, Clara Barton is a household name as a pioneer of nursing. Surprisingly though, Barton never received a formal education in nursing, therefore teaching herself nursing protocol.

Similarly to Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton was not initially a nurse. At first she was a teacher, but resigned when she discovered that a male coworker made twice as much money as her. Insisting that she would never work at an establishment who doesn’t pay their workers equally, she then became a clerk at the US Patent Office. Barton was actually the first woman who assumed that job, and received equal pay for her work as male coworkers. As we all know during that time though, inequality was at its highest, and she was reassigned to a lower paying job because the Secretary of the Interior “opposed women working in government” (“Clara Barton”). This injustice would not hold Barton back from her true calling though.

With the Civil War beginning after the election of Abraham Lincoln, Clara Barton quit her job and went to the front lines to aid injured soldiers. She had no prior medical experience, but learned through doing. She first began by giving soldiers necessary medical supplies. She did not even have official approval to give out these supplies until 1862 (“Clara Barton”). She aided the wounded at most major battles of the Civil War, including the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day battle of the war (Michals). This single day battle had an estimated 22,700 casualties. She was a leader, ordering the soldiers or anyone capable to help the wounded. These actions saved soldiers’ lives during the battles, especially from disease and infection. She was nicknamed “the angel of the battlefield” by tending to the wounded soldiers and eventually became a head nurse, which is significant because, once again, she had no prior experience before the war. Once the war ended, she was assigned the grave task to find missing soldiers and identify unmarked graves. This allowed for families to have some closure on their loved one’s death.

After her life-saving service in the Civil War, she founded the American Red Cross in 1881. The American Red Cross aided in health education and distributing supplies through volunteerism. Barton’s insistence on the creation of this foundation ensured that regular people understood basic sanitary procedure and help in the fight against injection and disease. The American Red Cross has been active ever since its creation, with its involvement in any major traumatic event/disaster through blood, supply, and money donations (Michals).

On top of all these accomplishments and heroic actions, she contributed to the women’s suffrage movement through lobbying to government. She is and always will be remembered as a pioneer of nursing, a founder of altruism, and a reformer for women’s rights. Barton never settled for less and believed that equality was necessary for society. She is an inspiration not just for women, but all people due to her perseverance, bravery, and altruism. These are the people to remember when obstacles form in one’s  own life.

“Clara Barton.” American Battlefield Trust, 25 Dec. 2018, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/clara-barton.

Michals, Debra.  “Clara Barton.”  National Women’s History Museum.  National Women’s History Museum, 2015.

Modern nursing practices were developed around the 19th century with mass wars such as The Crimean War, The Civil War, and The Spanish American War. The nurses in these wars created modern medical practices that are still used to this day. The pioneer that stemmed all of modern nursing practices/procedures, Florence Nightingale, who additionally challenged societal norms of the 19th century to allow more inclusion of women in the medical workforce while improving nursing protocol. 

Like many nurses that will be featured on this blog, Nightingale did not start her career as a nurse. Initially, she was held back by her parents who believed a career as a nurse was unsuitable for a high-standing woman. As a part of the higher echelon, her parents thought being a “career-woman” was beneath their familial status. She was courted by Richard Milnes, but denied his wedding proposal and decided that nursing was her true calling (“Florence Nightingale”).

 Once through school, and The Crimean War starting, she was asked to assemble a group of nurses to care for the injured soldiers due to her superior skills as a nurse. This group was the first women nurses to aid in the Crimean War. As the head nurse, Nightingale single handedly urged for improved sanitary practices. By simply washing hands and cleaning medical instruments, the death rate was reduced by two-thirds. Additionally, as a patient advocate, she increased the aid to receive more supplies, food, and expanded sanitary procedure (“Florence Nightingale”). The soldiers nicknamed her “The Lady of the Lamp” for caring for them when most needed (Alexander). This nickname stuck with her throughout the rest of her life. 

Her impact was not only felt during the war, but afterwards, too, with her founding the St. Thomas Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses. By teaching the next generation of nurses simple cleaning techniques, Nightingale additionally saved millions of lives, even after her death (“Florence Nightingale”).

Nightingale has become a symbol of independence, intelligence, and perseverance. By not conforming to society, she has modernized an entire field of medical science that still uses some of her practices today. Furthermore, she has inspired generations of women to defy norms and create a modern society with women in the workplace. To signify her symbolic place in history, International Nurses’ Day is celebrated on Nightingale’s birthday, May 12th, with her 200th birthday occurring next year, 2020. Nightingale paved the way for future women like Clara Barton, Mary Mahoney, and many others to additionally pioneer in the nursing field.

Photo of Florence Nightingale