Dorothea Dix : An Extraordinary Woman Who Wore Many Hats

Nursing as a profession has faced many barriers over the centuries. One of the most defining barriers discussed in regard to the historical experience of nurses is the effects of its being considered, and for the most part being, work done by women. In evaluating nursing history it is necessary therefore to evaluate the ways in which society has evolved over time in terms of its views on the roles of nurses of women within the society and its institutions. In the U.S., the inception of nursing both as an occupation and later as a profession, has strong ties to the challenge of women's perceived role as a wife and mother whose sphere was solely domestic. In many ways, significant progress has been made from that time in what women and

Florence Nightingale is known as the founder of modern nursing. Her contributions and influence not only to the nursing profession, but to the public health care system, is unparalleled. She was instrumental in establishing multiple processes and practices that are still in current practice. She has influenced many nursing theorist and prevailing theories during her career. Many of her changes continue to influence theory development today.

"There are few cases in history where a social movement of such proportions can be attributed to the work of a single individual" (Kovach) At the age of thirty-nine, a woman by the name of Dorothea Dix devoted the rest of her life as an advocate to the humane attitude toward the mentally ill. She traveled the world from state to state visiting each and every prison, almhouse, asylum, orphanage, and hidden hovel documenting everything and anything she saw. After her intricate study of what she had been a witness of she wrote a letter or "memorial" and presented it to a legislator she knew who would present it to each legislature in each state she had studied. Dorothea Dix was the pioneering force in the movement to reform the

To begin with by examining Diox firmness, mentality , and heroic personality it was clear that Dorothea Dix was able to stop injustice going on in the East Cambridge prison. It all began that same year Diox and some friends travel to england, returning home different not the same girl she was when she left home. She had different interests, new approaches to the treatment of insane. Diox took a job teaching inmates in an East Cambridge prison, where the conditions were so abysmal and the treatment for prisoners so inhumane, that she began agitating at once their improvement. Prisoners at that time were unregulated and unhygienic, with violent criminals housed side by side with mental illness. Diox later on she began to visit every public and

Dorothea Lynde Dix was born on April 4, 1802, in Hampden, Maine (1). She grew up in a religious home with her two siblings and her mother, Mary Bigelow Dix and her father, Joseph Dix. With her father being a distributor of religious tracts, Dix had to help stich and paste them together. She did not enjoy this chore. At the age of 12, Dix left her home and moved in with her aunt. She left to escape from an emotionally absent mother and an abusive father (2). Dorothea Dix had a hard childhood and became sensitive to others hardships due to the abuse of her father. After leaving, “She began teaching school at age 14. In 1819, she returned to Boston and founded the Dix Mansion, a school for girls, along with a charity school that poor girls could attend for free. She began writing textbooks, with her most famous, Conversations on Common Things, published in 1824 (1).” She enjoyed teaching and was accustomed to it due to having to watch her siblings during her parents “episodes”. Dorothea Dix suffered

In the world today nursing plays a major role that often associates with Civil War women, due to the fame of Clara Barton. Clara later founded “the American Red Cross in 1881.” Unlike other nurses she went out to the battlefield to nurse the soldier where they have fallen. With that courageous act she became known at the “Angel of the Battlefield.” Clara was a courageous

When Dix was at the young age of fourteen in 1821, through the encouragement of her family, she created an academy for wealthy adolescent children. In order to make her teaching even more privileged, Dix studied astronomy, mineralogy, and the natural sciences for two years (Buckmaster 5). Once her first school took off, she created another. The second school that Dix conducted was for poor children who could not afford to go to anywhere else. Because of her strict ways of teaching and her passion for her work, both of Dix’s schools became very popular and victorious (“Dorothea Lynde Dix”, Encyclopedia of World Biography). Her ways of teaching helped many students benefit intellectually. When Dix’s poor health became distracting to her instructional career, she was forced to take breaks from teaching. During these breaks, Dix spent her time writing books (“Dorothea Lynde Dix”, History.com).

Dorothea Dix was a woman who stood for the treatment and housing conditions of prisoners and the mentally ill.She observed and documented what she had seen and experienced. Her documentation changed her audiences minds and started the reform.

Florence Nightingale was an admirable leader because despite her gender she kept striving for what she wanted in a world ruled by men. She had determination, honesty, integrity, and respect from her peers. She fought diligently for women to receive an education and developed renowned ways of how to prevent and treat illnesses. She made improvements that benefited society, the population and as well as her peers. She was a leader that put others before herself and wanted equal success for all. She was committed to her mission and with that she showed that a nurse should have compassion. This relates to nursing being both an art and a science. She emphasized the need for empathy, as she believed that being empathetic could also help improve with recovery. Nightingale took initiative in the work she did and as a leader you need to take action and be proactive. An important contribution Nightingale made that has impacted our education and also improved the environment was her hadnwashing theory. She implemented hand hygiene and that helped prevent infection and illnesses. Florence Nightingale is an example of which nurses should follow. We must be leaders and take action. Nursing is not just a job, but it is a profession where you protect the rights of others and at the same time help people in their

     Dorothea Lynde Dix was quoted as saying, “In a world where there is so much to be done, I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do.” Dix began at the age of 39, and spent the next 20 years as a social reformer for the treatment of the mentally ill. When asked to teach a Sunday School class at a women’s correctional facility, Dix was appalled at the conditions, as well as the fact that many of the women weren’t criminals, but were instead mentally ill. This is where her crusade began. Her work had immediate results throughout the country, and the changes are still being felt even today.

Dorothea Dix’s journey started when she use to teach Sunday school in prisons. That’s when she realized how prisoners were being treated and she wanted to change that. She was dissappointed at how harshly and abusively the prisoners were being cared for. What she did not think was fair was that prisoners were actually mentally ill and were in prison and not in asylums. She pushed and pushed for improvements for getting them out of prison and placing them in hospitals. She ended up building hospitals for the ill in 32 out of all 50 states, which was a great amount. After spending many years improving the lives of the prisoners, she went to serve as a nurse in the Civil War. Once the war was finished, she went straight back to solving issues for the mentally ill. She contined to help her community until she passed away. Her passing was

Dorothea Lynde Dix moved and lived with her wealthy grandmother, also named Dorothea Dix, to isolate from her abusive and alcoholic parents. It wasn’t soon after that she began to educate young women and children. She was already contributing to society when she established a school to educate poor and neglected children. Dix’s school educated hundreds of children, but her regressing health forced her to discontinue her school. However, this regressing health sought her to travel to Europe, where she met several lobbyists. Dix was heavily inspired by the actions of these lobbyists. While at a Sunday-school class in East Cambridge House of Correction, she found a

Born in 1802, Dorothea Dix played an important role in changing the ways people thought about patients who were mentally-ill and handicapped. These patients had always been cast-off as “being punished by God”. She believed that that people of such standing would do better by being treated with love and caring rather than being put aside. As a social reformer, philanthropist, teacher, writer, writer, nurse, and humanitarian, Dorothea Dix devoted devoted her life to the welfare of the mentally-ill and handicapped. She accomplished many milestones throughout her life and forever changed the way patients are cared for. She was a pioneer in her time, taking on challenges that no other women would dare dream of tackling.

Florence Nightingale is known as the pioneer of nursing and evidence- based health care. Many believe that she was the founder of what we call modern nursing today. During her time as a nurse she had founded her school of nursing at St. Thomas Hospital in 1860 as well she wrote many nursing books such as Notes on Nursing wrote in

Women throughout history were always looked down upon for their gender, that they were not “people” but as objects to society. This was because men were supposed to be the stronger of the two genders, also that women were there to help the men and just be submissive to everything. Because of this many women did not go to school higher than the high school level and proceed to do jobs that were not the greatest. But Sister Berenice Beck showed otherwise to the statement above. She became the first women to earn a PhD in Nursing, become a Dean of the Nursing Program at Marquette University, and funded many nursing programs. Becoming the first Dean of Nursing was a very important moment in the nursing history because at this period not many women obtained that high recognition in the education field. She earned this by first earning her Doctorate in Nursing, but upon her re-arrival to St. Joseph