Nursing Icons

[backman]

An article in this weeks Nursing Standard asks if Florence Nightingale is still relevent to nurses in the 21st century? A recent book on FN and next years centenary of her death will once again reinforce her status as the most famous nurse,but why? Was it just good PR?
What about all the other influential nurses who have helped to advance the cause and practice of nursing and why are we so bad at recalling these,both in the profession and in public.Probably the second most famous nurse would be Edith Cavell who is most remembered for her being shot rather than her nursing legacy.What about Sister Dora,Ethel Bedford Fenwick,Eva Luckes,Agnes Jones et al? Who are the other memorable nurses and are there any modern nursing standard bearers? Christine Beasley?
Who do members regard as our nursing icons,past and present?

[nursesue]

my vote would be for Sister Dora but how about Mary Seacole who often gets forgotten?? How about Clara Barton an American who founded the American red cross some 20 years after starting nursing or Margaret Sanger who fought with convention and the Catholic church for the introduction of birth control. How about TV personility nurses such as midwife Claire Rayner or RMN/CPN qualified Jo Brand. If I am allowed to meander how about 2 famous women who became Doctors -  such as Elizabeth Blackwell and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson numbers 1 and 2 on the medical register.
Now a tongue in cheek moment Charlie Fairhead ( charge nurse Casualty played by Derek Thompson) did appear as number 4 in a mori poll for famous nurses ( hey Hattie Jaques came in 3rd!!)
sue

[nursesue]

ps  - found this link to UK/American famous nurses - worth a visit

http://www.rncentral.com/nursing-library/famous-nurses
sue

[wilfb]

Hi,

this is an interesting one!  But Sue, is Charlie Fairhead Derek Thompson or the other way around? Or are they both the same person?

And Jo Brand? Is that a cereal or a person - 'Jo' Brand..!

For me - well, it is difficult to deny Florence the top spot - given that she started the first 'recognised' school of nursing and got her own hands dirty and must have risked her life going to Scutari when she had no need to do so (I think that I have written that in the wrong order) but, looking at Peter's list alone, well, I am unsure. It depends upon how we interpret the words.

Famous; most influential; most memorable et al.  Classification and categorisation again. Most of us are well forgotten very quickly which is a pity (often) but fact.

For me every last nurse who has helped a patient is precious, - famous, memorable or not. All equally precious.. But then being human we need our idols, our ideals to help set our goals - and those are constantly changing for most of us. Which is why we need Florence (or your own god/goddess). A constant to aim for until the next challenge.

Here endeth this morning's lesson!  But hopefully not this topic. I like Mrs Bedford-Fenwick best right now, being something of a stirrer...

[backman]

 Must nail my colours to the mast and state my preference for Ethel Bedford Fenwick over FN.
I Recently picked up a small book on Agnes Jones and it tempts me to find out more?

[nursesue]

have just thought of another famous nurse - Dame Agnes Gwendoline Hunt (31 December 1866–24 July 1948)  who is generally recognized as the first orthopaedic nurse.

sue

[backman]

Certainly a worthy addition Sue. Co-incidentally a similar thread on the RCN Discussion board asks why so few of our icons are male nurses and I admit to having to struggle to come up with many names.Trevor Clay from the RCN & Ray Rowden were two that I could recall and obviously Charlie Fairhead deserves a mention for his work in confirming that not all male nurses were gay but otherwise relatively thin on the ground?

[nursesue]

famous male nurses -mmm have really had to put my thinking cap on for this one. How about Peter Salt
( tech advisor Casualty), Mike Walsh (A&E nurse/author), Brian Dolan (RCN & nurse advisor Holby City) or one of my old Orthopaedic tutors the late Edward Pinney  SRN, ONC, RNT, MBE - principal nursing officer(education) and an author of orthopaedic text books


or one famous male American  nurse of the past was James Derham. He was an African American man who worked as a nurse in New Orleans in 1783. He was able to save enough money to buy his freedom from slavery. He went on to become the first African American physician in the United States

check out wikipedia for this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_in_nursing

Are infamous nurses included who did more evil than good???? or do we ignore them and leave their mis-deeds confined to the dustbins of 'bad' nursing history?????

[wilfb]

Hi.

'Infamous Nurses' - you mean matrons Sue..  (Why do I always look over my shoulder for the moderator when I take the lighter side)...?

To be serious for a moment, I had never heard of James Derham - that is really interesting.

Onward. Infamous and left in the dark. Not unusual and probably understandable. Many people tend to remember the bad more quickly than recognising the good, remember for longer and also show another tendency - tarring all with the same brush. No profession wants that and it is natural as a profession not to want to display our darker secrets.

For myself? Well, I would prefer it if we took all the skeletons out of the cupboards (apologies for the pun) and hung them out in the sunshine to dry. Maybe rattle the bones a bit. But I hesitate. I would have no hesitation sharing the information with colleagues - especially in a teaching situation, but the general public - I don't know.

Maybe that aspect is best left to the media. The story of at least one of our sinners - Beverley Allett (I think that I have the spelling wrong) - Grantham Hospital - is about to be aired on a Sky TV programme about 'women who kill' but I am uncertain of the details. I believe that the lady in question is presently detained in Rampton Special Hospital (Nottinghamshire).

Better aired than under the carpet?

Will.

[nursesue]

hi -wilf a scary thought Matrons!!! and the fact you could read my mind Bev Allit as I was thinking of her!!! OK off to think of some more dark nurses!!
sue x

[nursesue]

Pete recently asked a question about Nursing Icons and while the well known were mentioned such as Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. I suggested that Agnes Hunt , considered the founder of orthopaedic nursing, deserved a mention. So here is my tribute to her -
Agnes was born in 1867 to Rowland Hunt and his wife Marianne Humfrey and was one of 10 children  who was the only one not to get married in later life. Her father died in 1897 and Mrs Hunt is reported to said to have disliked children. It appears that for 12 years her father  had the greater influence on young Agnes. Agnes's determination is said to have been handed down from her mother.
At the age of  10 Agnes developed septicaemia & an infective arthritis of the hip. As with all Victorian children she bore her illness well and rarely complained of pain. She described her illness as "the apprentice to Crippledom and the great education of pain".  She was determined to walk again without the aid of crutches when her leg was paralysed.
After the death of her father the family emigrated to Australia at the insistence of her mother who wanted to breed Angora goats on an aussie island that she heard about but they ended up in Brisbane after a fruitless searching  and length of Australia the breadth and eventually ended up sheep finding and a failed attempt chicken finding. Many of the  children returned to the UK and Mrs Hunt followed suit some time later
It was on Agnes's return to the UK that she made her intentions known that she wanted to train as a nurse. After a stand off with her mother and refusing all offers of marriage she eventually went to train at Alexandra Hospital Rhyl. As a pupil nurse. The Honorary Consultant at that time was Hugh Owen Thomas and uncle to Robert Jones. After  a year in Rhyl she became a lady pupil nurse at the West London Hospital where she collapsed due to  deplorable conditions and returned home to recuperate.
She eventually returned to nursing at the Salop Infirmary in Shrewsbury and on completion of her training in 1891 she joined the Hammersmith Branch of the Queens Jubilee District Nurse's Association to train as  a District Nurse. She worked during both typhoid and small pox epidemics and returned home to her mother in 1900.
Agnes , her mother and great friend Emily Godford set up a convalescent home funded by Mrs Hunt in  Baschurch to take on recuperating children from Salop Infirmary.
In 1903 her condition deteriorated  and she went to the Royal Southern Hospital Liverpool where she sought the advice of Orthopaedic Consultant Robert Jones. He later visited her at Baschurch and was impressed by the happy conditions and offered to treat the children as outpatients  at the Royal Southern Hospital Thus began a long partnership
She received the Royal Red Cross after the first World War and in 1926 she was made a Dame of the British empire
It has been written that " This crippled child was destined in later life to lead the world in the progress of orthopaedic nursing and the care of the cripple a task which was to gain her the highest civic award a nation could bestow on her and the title" The Florence Nightingale of Orthopaedic Nursing" a title so richly deserved and earns her  a place as a nursing icon

[SuzanneL]

How about Edith Cavell, I cant imagine how she did what she did and then pay the ultimate price for her actions. As far as i am concerned she should be given greater recognition.

[wilfb]

Hi,

Yes, Edith Cavell does deserve more recognition... But then that is the story of the nursing profession isn't it... In Edith Cavell's day it demanded almost everything a nurse could give - including the right to marry and have a family if a nurse wanted to remain in the profession - and in Edith's case everything.

But then she didn't give her life - it was taken in war, like so many of our forebears. Innocence was no protection.

Will.

[backman]

Someone was kind enough to me through this link which I thought I would share; http://www.westendlhs.hampshire.org.uk/wenl36/index.html

[wilfb]

Hi.

Nice one Peter - my first formal teaching post was with the West Suffolk Group School of Nursing - though I must admit that I had never heard of Kate Oram. Or if I had I must have forgotten - an unlikely event in  this case.

Thanks for that.