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Profiles In NursingNursing in the Wild WestThe true tales of Calamity Jane and Nellie CashmanIt may be difficult to believe today, but there was a time when nurses suffered a dubious reputation. While the nuns who founded nursing orders and hospitals were seen as ministering angels, lay nursing was seldom considered a respectable profession, and...
Profiles In NursingRose Hawthorne Lathrop (1851–1926), Cancer Nurse and Candidate for SainthoodOncology nurse and candidate for sainthoodThe youngest child of famed novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rose Hawthorne Lathrop was born into a wealthy New England family with literary and political connections. A series of tragedies led her to relinquish the comforts of privilege to become an...
Profiles In NursingMary Seacole (1805–1881), Crimean War MemoiristHer bestselling book inspired the British public and Royal FamilyA multiracial lay nurse and businesswoman from Kingston, Jamaica, Mary Seacole created a life for herself that defied the stereotypes of her time and built a memorable legacy on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Growing up in Jamaica Born Mary Grant...

RN Career Events

Movie & TV NursesThe Time-Traveling Adventures of “Outlander”The nurse heroine is transported from World War II to 1743 (and back again)Other than the occasional period piece, TV shows featuring nurse characters tend to be set firmly in the here and now. Not so with “Outlander,” the popular STARZ series based on the historical fantasy-adventure novels by Diana Gabaldon, which takes...
FeatureFrom Clodhoppers to ClogsThe colorful history of nursing shoesA typical 12-hour shift keeps nurses on their feet. On average, nurses take more than 9,000 steps a day while contending with hazards like slippery hospital floors, unidentified fluid spills and who knows what kind of germs. It’s no wonder that...
Profiles In NursingDolores “Dee” O’Hara (1935–), First NASA Space NurseHer nursing skills launched an out-of-this-world careerWhen Dolores “Dee” O’Hara entered nursing school after graduating from Oregon’s Lebanon High School in 1953, she had no idea her nursing career would have her literally reaching for the stars. In 1960, she became the first nurse to join NASA,...

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FeatureWhatever Became of Nursing Caps?Frilly or starched, they were once icons of the professionAsk a working nurse today about nursing caps and she will probably tell you about the oversized paper bonnet that covers the hair during surgical procedures and is tossed out after a single use. Ask a retired nurse, however, and it’s likely her eyes...
Profiles In NursingAnn Bradford Stokes (1830–1903), From Civil War “Contraband” to U.S. Navy PensionerAfter escaping the plantation where she was enslaved, Stokes boarded a Union hospital ship and volunteered to become a Navy nurse.After escaping the plantation where she was enslaved, Ann Bradford Stokes boarded a Union hospital ship and volunteered to become a Navy nurse. Later, she became the first woman in U.S. Navy history to be granted a military pension for her own service....
Nursing Book ClubThe Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women — and Women to Medicine by Janice P NimuraWe've come so farIt’s interesting to wonder what really motivates people, especially important historical figures. In her new book, The Doctors Blackwell, author Janice P. Nimura delves into the lives of groundbreaking 19th century female physicians Elizabeth and Emily...

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