The American Nurses Association inducted six RNs into its Hall of Fame during the association’s biennial House of Delegates meeting June 13-16 in National Harbor, Md.
The six entrants increased the number in the ANA Hall of Fame to 83 since its establishment in 1976. "The ANA Hall of Fame represents the pioneers, innovators and leaders of the nursing profession," ANA President Karen A. Daley, RN, PhD, MPH, FAAN, said in a news release. "They are trailblazers whose commitment and pursuit of excellence have created opportunities for future generations and expanded the knowledge base for all registered nurses."
Rear Adm. Faye Glenn Abdellah, (Ret.), RN, EdD, ScD, FAAN, United States Public Health Service and Maryland Nurses Association
Named a "living legend" by the American Academy of Nursing in 1994, Abdellah is regarded as an influential nursing theorist and public health scientist. Her seminal works, "Better Nursing Care Through Nursing Research" and "Patient Centered Approaches To Nursing," changed the focus of nursing theory from disease-centered to patient-centered.
Abdellah was the first nurse and woman to serve as deputy surgeon general of the United States. She worked to protect the elderly by improving nursing home standards and educated the public on issues such as AIDS, drug addiction, violence, smoking and alcoholism.
After retiring from the U.S. Public Health Service in 1989, Abdellah served as the first dean of the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University in Maryland. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000, two years before she retired with more than 50 years of government service.
Josephine A. Dolan, RN, MS, PdD (Hon.), DNSc (Hon.), Connecticut Nurses Association
Known as a nurse historian and educator before and since her death in 2004, Dolan wrote a textbook on the history of nursing, "Nursing in Society: a Historical Perspective," that was the most widely used text of its kind for 25 years and influenced students nationally and internationally.
Dolan, who earned a masters in nursing from Boston University, was the first professor hired by the University of Connecticut’s new School of Nursing in 1944, teaching for 35 years. She encouraged students to pursue higher education and advocated for the professionalism of nursing. She helped transform nursing education from hospital-based training to academic-based and, in 1972, received the National League for Nursing’s first Distinguished Service Award.
Eleanor C. Lambertsen, RN, EdD, DSc (Hon.), New York State Nurses Association
A leader in nursing education, Lambertsen, who died in 1998, pioneered the concept of "team nursing," which revolutionized the organization and delivery of nursing and healthcare by placing RNs in the primary interdisciplinary leadership role.
Upon completion of her doctorate from Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City, and after serving as a faculty member, she attained leadership positions with the American Hospital Association. She later returned to Teachers College as the nursing department’s chairwoman and director of the Division of Health Sciences. She became dean of the Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing in 1970 and senior associate director of nursing in 1974.
Lambertsen is credited with enabling generations of clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners to practice independently. She served as president of the American Nurses Foundation and chaired the National Commission for the Study of Nursing and Education.
Capt. Mary Lee Mills, (Ret.), RN, MSN, MPH, CNM, U.S. Public Health Service and North Carolina Nurses Association
Mills, who died in 2010, overcame racial, gender and class barriers to affect public health and nursing, improving the quality of life for people globally. Her trailblazing career transported her from a small town in North Carolina to the international stage as a nurse ambassador.
She practiced as a public health nurse and a nurse midwife before, in 1946, becoming director of the public health nursing certificate program at North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University). She became an officer in the USPHS, rising to captain and also serving as its CNO from 1946 to 1952.
Mills contributed to public health initiatives internationally. Liberia vested Mills as Knight Official of the Liberian Humane Order of the Redemption for health initiatives, and Lebanon bestowed the Order of the Cedars for her role in establishing the first school of nursing. Her portrait is featured with 33 distinguished African Americans in the Harmon Collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Margaret D. Sovie, RN, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, New York State Nurses Association
Sovie’s seminal work in nursing excellence changed how healthcare facilities support professional nursing practice. In a landmark study for the 1983 AAN Task Force on Nursing Practice in Hospitals, Sovie, who died in 2002, and colleagues identified the characteristics of facilities that attracted and retained superior nurses.
Defining 14 "Forces of Magnetism," they established the framework for nursing excellence. The Magnet Recognition Program, the American Nurses Credentialing Center program that measures nursing excellence, evolved from Sovie’s study.
Sovie is recognized as a nurse educator, administrator, researcher, innovator and policymaker. She held advanced degrees from Syracuse University and led both the University of Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as CNO. The Margaret D. Sovie Center for Advanced Practice at Strong Memorial honors her legacy as an advocate for nurse practitioners.
Russell E. Tranbarger, RN, EdD, FAAN, North Carolina Nurses Association
A role model for men in nursing, Tranbarger has been an advocate for diversity in the profession. He has been a leader for the American Assembly for Men in Nursing and co-edited the book "Men in Nursing: History, Opportunities and Challenges." He was the first male president of the North Carolina Nurses Association and chairman of the North Carolina Board of Nursing.
Tranbarger’s 50-year career began in med/surg nursing as an officer in the Army Nurse Corps. He later served for 20 years as a CNE at three hospitals in North Carolina and, in 1972, was appointed the first male RN on the University of North Carolina School of Nursing faculty (adjunct). He led a period of change in practice as vice president for nursing at the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro from 1977 to 1989, implementing innovative nurse internship and residency programs.
The six entrants increased the number in the ANA Hall of Fame to 83 since its establishment in 1976. "The ANA Hall of Fame represents the pioneers, innovators and leaders of the nursing profession," ANA President Karen A. Daley, RN, PhD, MPH, FAAN, said in a news release. "They are trailblazers whose commitment and pursuit of excellence have created opportunities for future generations and expanded the knowledge base for all registered nurses."
Rear Adm. Faye Glenn Abdellah, (Ret.), RN, EdD, ScD, FAAN, United States Public Health Service and Maryland Nurses Association
Named a "living legend" by the American Academy of Nursing in 1994, Abdellah is regarded as an influential nursing theorist and public health scientist. Her seminal works, "Better Nursing Care Through Nursing Research" and "Patient Centered Approaches To Nursing," changed the focus of nursing theory from disease-centered to patient-centered.
Abdellah was the first nurse and woman to serve as deputy surgeon general of the United States. She worked to protect the elderly by improving nursing home standards and educated the public on issues such as AIDS, drug addiction, violence, smoking and alcoholism.
After retiring from the U.S. Public Health Service in 1989, Abdellah served as the first dean of the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University in Maryland. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000, two years before she retired with more than 50 years of government service.
Josephine A. Dolan, RN, MS, PdD (Hon.), DNSc (Hon.), Connecticut Nurses Association
Known as a nurse historian and educator before and since her death in 2004, Dolan wrote a textbook on the history of nursing, "Nursing in Society: a Historical Perspective," that was the most widely used text of its kind for 25 years and influenced students nationally and internationally.
Dolan, who earned a masters in nursing from Boston University, was the first professor hired by the University of Connecticut’s new School of Nursing in 1944, teaching for 35 years. She encouraged students to pursue higher education and advocated for the professionalism of nursing. She helped transform nursing education from hospital-based training to academic-based and, in 1972, received the National League for Nursing’s first Distinguished Service Award.
Eleanor C. Lambertsen, RN, EdD, DSc (Hon.), New York State Nurses Association
A leader in nursing education, Lambertsen, who died in 1998, pioneered the concept of "team nursing," which revolutionized the organization and delivery of nursing and healthcare by placing RNs in the primary interdisciplinary leadership role.
Upon completion of her doctorate from Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City, and after serving as a faculty member, she attained leadership positions with the American Hospital Association. She later returned to Teachers College as the nursing department’s chairwoman and director of the Division of Health Sciences. She became dean of the Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing in 1970 and senior associate director of nursing in 1974.
Lambertsen is credited with enabling generations of clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners to practice independently. She served as president of the American Nurses Foundation and chaired the National Commission for the Study of Nursing and Education.
Capt. Mary Lee Mills, (Ret.), RN, MSN, MPH, CNM, U.S. Public Health Service and North Carolina Nurses Association
Mills, who died in 2010, overcame racial, gender and class barriers to affect public health and nursing, improving the quality of life for people globally. Her trailblazing career transported her from a small town in North Carolina to the international stage as a nurse ambassador.
She practiced as a public health nurse and a nurse midwife before, in 1946, becoming director of the public health nursing certificate program at North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University). She became an officer in the USPHS, rising to captain and also serving as its CNO from 1946 to 1952.
Mills contributed to public health initiatives internationally. Liberia vested Mills as Knight Official of the Liberian Humane Order of the Redemption for health initiatives, and Lebanon bestowed the Order of the Cedars for her role in establishing the first school of nursing. Her portrait is featured with 33 distinguished African Americans in the Harmon Collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Margaret D. Sovie, RN, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, New York State Nurses Association
Sovie’s seminal work in nursing excellence changed how healthcare facilities support professional nursing practice. In a landmark study for the 1983 AAN Task Force on Nursing Practice in Hospitals, Sovie, who died in 2002, and colleagues identified the characteristics of facilities that attracted and retained superior nurses.
Defining 14 "Forces of Magnetism," they established the framework for nursing excellence. The Magnet Recognition Program, the American Nurses Credentialing Center program that measures nursing excellence, evolved from Sovie’s study.
Sovie is recognized as a nurse educator, administrator, researcher, innovator and policymaker. She held advanced degrees from Syracuse University and led both the University of Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as CNO. The Margaret D. Sovie Center for Advanced Practice at Strong Memorial honors her legacy as an advocate for nurse practitioners.
Russell E. Tranbarger, RN, EdD, FAAN, North Carolina Nurses Association
A role model for men in nursing, Tranbarger has been an advocate for diversity in the profession. He has been a leader for the American Assembly for Men in Nursing and co-edited the book "Men in Nursing: History, Opportunities and Challenges." He was the first male president of the North Carolina Nurses Association and chairman of the North Carolina Board of Nursing.
Tranbarger’s 50-year career began in med/surg nursing as an officer in the Army Nurse Corps. He later served for 20 years as a CNE at three hospitals in North Carolina and, in 1972, was appointed the first male RN on the University of North Carolina School of Nursing faculty (adjunct). He led a period of change in practice as vice president for nursing at the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro from 1977 to 1989, implementing innovative nurse internship and residency programs.
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