Great Nurses in History What makes a great nurse? And who are the greatest nurses in history? Getting the answers to questions like the ones above has helped many aspiring nurses know what to strive for as they go through their nursing education and training. Answering those questions also give aspiring nurses a role model or two that they can look up to.
What Makes a Great Nurse? There are many qualities and value that could make up a great nurse, but some of those values have been studied and actually remain pretty constant, even on a global scale. Some of the characteristics that make up a great nurse include:
Family values Sense of accomplishment Honesty Intellect Responsibility Happiness Prevention of suffering Compassionate
Who are the Greatest Nurses in History? There have been many great nurses in the history of the world, what made them great? How did they accomplish their dreams? Who did they look up to? Here is a list of a few of those great nurses and little bit about each of them:
Mary Jane Seacole Seacole was born in Jamaica and taught basic herbal remedies by her mother. Seacole wanted to help with the Crimean War so she used her own money to travel there and to set up a ‘British Hotel’ behind the lines. She even went out to wounded servicemen on the battlefield. After her death she was recognized as a woman who successfully combatted racial prejudice. Florence Nightingale Nightingale has been called many things including: The Queen of Nurses and The Soldier’s Friend. She was born into a wealthy British family and trained at the institute of Protestant Deaconesses at kaiserwerth. Nightingale tended patients during the Crimean War and improved the hospital hygiene in order to reduce the number of infections. Later on she founded a nursing school where students learned about health care along with the importance of good hygiene in medicine. Many say she laid the ground work for what is now known as modern practices.
Mary Breckinridge Breckinridge studied at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York and became a registered nurse in 1910. Breckinridge is credited with introducing midwifery to America and she also founded the Frontier Nursing Service. She is also recognized for being the first to fund family car centers. Dorothea Dix Dix left an abusive home at age 12 and dedicated her time to social welfare in England. Dix founded the first public mental hospital in America.
Here are few more famously great nurses found in history:
Virginia Avenel Henderson Mary Ezra Mahoney Martha Jane “Calamity Jane” Cannary Lillian Wald Helen Fairchild Jeanne Prentice Margaret Sanger
Going through the training and gaining the education are only two steps to becoming a nurse. It takes so much more to be a truly great nurse. It takes stamina, love, strength, courage, hope, dreams, wit, confidence, generosity, a kind heart, and so much more. Great nurses see people, not patients. Great nurses are remembered by those they care for with respect and many times with love.