Army Nurse overcame barriers

the 16thchiefoftheArmyNurseCorps withapromotion to brigadier general.It madeherthe firstBlack womanandthe firstchiefwithan earneddoctorate to be appointed to thatposition.She wasalso onlythethird woman to achieve the rank of generalintheArmy. At thetime, white nursesoutnumberedBlacknurses12 to one.

Accomplishments

Johnson-Brown wasnotone to siton herlaurels. Aschief, shepushed several initiatives.

Shepromotedacademic scholarships for ROTC nursingstudentsand setupaclinicalnursingsummer camp for ROTCcadets. She wasthe first to publisha“Standardsof Practice fortheArmyNurseCorps.” She promotedqualityassurancemeasuresin treatment facilitiesandencouragedmembers ofthe Corps to engagein research.

Johnson-Brownbelievedintheimportant rolesthatthe rankand filenurses playedintheArmyand gave themshared responsibility forplanningthefutureof the Corps. Shepromotededucationand worked to expandopportunities for Reserveand NationalGuardnursesin top managementpositions.

Afterher four-year term,she retired fromtheArmyNurseCorps.

Ongoing Work

Shestill wasn’tdonechangingthe nursing world.She continued toteachat nursing schoolsatGeorgetown University andGeorge Mason University. Shehelped foundthe Center for Health Policy, ResearchandEthics.

GREENSHOOT MEDIA

Hazel Johnson-Brown wasadetermined woman who wasn’t going to letanyone tellhershe couldn’tbeanurse.

Notonlydidsheachieve that title,but Johnson-Brown would go on to becomethefirstBlack femalegeneralinthe

U.S. Army in 1979 andthe firstBlackchief ofthe UnitedStates Army NurseCorps.

Early life

BorninPennsylvaniain1927,shewasone ofsevenchildren.Allofherfamilymembers workedonthefarmandheldotherjobs.She tookondomesticworkwhenshewas12,but even thenknewshe wanted to beanurse. Whenshegraduatedfromhigh school, theWestChesterSchoolofNursingrejected herbecause she was Black.Shemoved to NewYorkandstudiedattheHarlemHospital School of Nursing.Returninghome,she workedforthePhiladelphiaVeteransAssociationandlearnedabouttheArmyNurse Corps,whichPresidentHarry Trumanhad racially integrated seven years earlier.

Army Nurse Corps

She joinedtheArmyNurseCorpsand her first tour wasinahospitalin Japan. She workedinoperating roomsandtrained nurses who were on their way to Vietnam.

She wasonceassigned to go to Vietnam, butbecameill.Thenurse who tookher place waskilledinasurpriseattackon theunitshortlyaftertheyarrivedinthe country.

Johnson-BrownbrieflylefttheArmy to earnhernursingdegreefrom Villanova University. She then returned to active duty. The firstofmanyassignments was asanoperating roomnurse at Walter Reed. She continued to earndegreesand continued toteachnurses.

She wasgivenprogressivelymore responsiblepositions wherevertheArmy neededher.

In 1979, she wasnominated to become

In 1990,whenmanyoftheemployees of Fort Belvoir Community Hospital were deployed to Iraqas partofOperation DesertStorm,she volunteered towork inthe surgicalsuite.

Johnson-Brown twice earnedthetitle “ArmyNurse ofthe Year”and received manyothermedals.

Whenshediedin2011,the U.S. House of Representatives passeda Joint Resolution commendingher“significant contributions to thenursingprofessionand herdedication to the U.S. Army. She was buriedatArlington National Cemetery, a woman whosuccessfullypursuedadream thatothers wouldhave denied to her.