In honor of the holiday, we wanted to share a brief history of a pioneer of the
modern nursing profession:
Linda Richards
After both of Linda Richards’ parents died of tuberculosis and her fiance’s death from Civil War wounds, she was driven to learn more about nursing and enrolled in the inaugural class of a new nurse training program.
As the first American nurse to be professionally trained, Linda Richards spent her career educating future nurses, laying the foundation for modern nursing education and thus transforming the nursing profession.
Throughout her career, Richards developed a written patient record, strengthened the training school at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital as its superintendent, and served as the first president of the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools.
According to the American Association for the History of Nursing:
“Linda Richards became actively involved in nursing organizations and can be regarded as one of the movers and shakers of the young profession.”
May we all be inspired by what brought us into nursing, continue to connect professionally, and be proud to serve the nursing profession in America in 2019.
We want to hear about a nurse who inspires you – please share with us on our LinkedIn page.
Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday,
All of us at Kirby Bates Associates