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A Pioneer in the Nursing Profession, Lillian Wald Essay

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Lillian Wald was a pioneer for the nursing profession as well as an advocate for many unrecognized populations in the United States. Wald was passionate about people, especially the poor and overlooked (A+E, para.2). While working with the underprivileged she concluded that she could be doing more. During her nursing career she established many programs and reformed society in countless ways. Wald is mostly recognized for her pioneering in public health nursing, but she impacted nursing as a whole in a way that changed the profession forever. Beginning of Ms. Wald’s Career In 1891, at the age of 22, Lillian Wald decided to attend nursing school. She moved to New York and acquired her education at New York Hospital’s Training School…show more content…
4). She promoted welfare, health care, and decent living conditions for those who did not have it (National Women’s Hall of Fame, 2011, para. 1). Wald was against children’s labor, and even helped President Roosevelt establish the Federal Children’s Bureau in 1912 (National Women’s Hall of Fame, 2011, para. 4). While working as a nurse, she also advocated for civil rights, women’s suffrage, and education for the mentally handicapped (National Women’s Hall of Fame, 2011, para. 4). Wald’s promotion of such programs and people led her to establish a nursing organization to better meet community needs. Wald’s Public Health Contributions During her time as a visiting nurse, Wald became more aware of community needs for health care. It began as seeing a need for nurses in public schools, and turned into the first public health nursing system with assistance from the New York Board of Health (National Women’s Hall of Fame, 2011, para. 2). Wald then helped start the National Organization of Public Health, and was the first president (National Women’s Hall of Fame, 2011, para. 2). As a pioneer in public health nursing, Wald was able to “create models of public health and social service programs” (Henry Street Settlement, para. 2). She made great contributions to the nursing profession. Public health was entirely unheard of before Ms. Wald. Instead of treating the sick and injured, Wald thought many problems could be prevented with education, the basis of public
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