Nurses have one of the single most important jobs in health care today. It's rare, though, that we think of nurses as “famous” individuals. There are several nurses over the years, though, who have certainly distinguished themselves enough to be considered for fame.
1. Clara Barton – Born Clarissa Harlowe Barton on December 25, 1821, she is most famous for organizing the American Red Cross. She spent her early years working in the United States Patent Office, but as the Civil War broke out around the country, she went to work taking care of the wounded men found on the battlefields. It wasn't long before she realized how underprepared the Union was for the fight, and in 1861, she created an organization to bring supplies to wounded soldiers. It was not until a year later that she obtained permission from the army to travel behind battle lines and distribute the necessary medical supplies as well as treat the wounded soldiers. Her work became so famous that in 1864, she was appointed “Lady In Charge” of all Union hospitals. After the war, she spent an extensive amount of time searching for missing men, an experience that earned her a much needed medical rest trip to Europe. While there, she learned of the International Red Cross, and when she returned to the States, she was able to organize the American Red Cross.
2. Florence Nightingale – Eventually nicknamed “The Lady With A Lamp,” Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820. Her parents didn't want her to enter the nursing profession, and instead, arranged a marriage. Citing it her life's calling, she turned the marriage down to enter the health care field. In 1851, she spent four months training in Germany, and in 1853, she returned to London to become superintendent at the Institute for the Care of Sick Gentlewomen. Her fame, though, came with the outbreak of the Crimean War. She and thirty-eight of her trainees traveled to Istanbul to organize patient care and work on hygiene issues in the hospitals. When she returned to London, she worked hard to advocate sanitary living conditions and overhaul military care. In 1869, she and Elizabeth Blackwell opened a women's medical college.
3. Margaret H. Sanger – Sanger spent her early days nursing New York City's poorest families. The experience led her to become one of the most famous advocates for a woman's right to birth control. She founded the American Birth Control League in 1921, and spent time promoting birth control on a world wide basis through the end of her life.
4. Dorthea Dix – Dix spent only the later portions of her life as a nurse. In her early life, she lobbied for better care of the insane poor in her home state of Massachusetts. With the outbreak of the Civil War, though, she was appointed Superintendent of Army Nurses.
5. Sally Louisa Tompkins – Born November 9, 1833, Tompkins founded a private hospital to treat American Civil War Soldiers. She was appointed the only female officer in the Confederate Army, which helped her to get the supplies necessary to care for the wounded. The survival rate of her hospital was 94.5%, as staggering success in terms of early medical care.
6. Olga Nethersole – Primarily known as a British actress, Nethersole spent World War I nursing British Soldiers back to health. She established the People's League of Health, and received the Royal Red Cross in 1920.
7. Ruby Bradley – One of the most decorated women in United States military history, Bradley started her career as a surgical nurse in 1934 with the Army Nurse Corps. She was captured by Japanese forces early in World War II, and spent her detention nursing other inmates back to health. She also served in the Korean War.
8. Edith Cavell – Tried and convicted as a war criminal in Germany, Cavell met a firing squad after helping hundreds of allied soldiers escape German troops in the early part of World War II. She is considered a martyr and has several hospitals named after her.
9. Sarah Emma Edmundson – During the Civil War, Edmundson enlisted in the Army disguised as a male nurse. She contracted malaria, put herself in a private hospital, and was considered a deserter. Rather than face military justice as her male disguise, she spent her last days as a nurse in a Washington D.C. hospital. After the war, she wrote a book about her experiences.
10. Diane Carlson Evans – Evans spent all of the Vietnam War as a military nurse, and when she returned, she began a successful campaign to create the Vietnam Women's Memorial and the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.
These are just a few of the hundreds of nurses have passed through the halls of history. Most nurses deserve to be recognized in some form, as it is easily one of the single most important health care positions available in today's medical world.
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