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Sister Kenny's Legacy

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Having grown famous, Elizabeth Kenny’s personality and methods became a beacon of light in the study of poliomyelitis that has made her legacy live on. The clinic at which Kenny cared for many patients became the Sister Kenny Institute which was organized and funded by the Sister Kenny Foundation (Cartwright 2). The Sister Kenny Institute was established in Minneapolis in 1942, to teach nurses and physiotherapists about her treatments (“Kenny, Elizabeth”371). The Sister Kenny Foundation aided further projects to broaden the field of poliomyelitis (Paul 344). Sister Kenny retired from executive director of the Kenny Foundation in 1944; she passed her torch to Dr. Huenekens who fulfilled the position (Cohn 226 and 227). Elizabeth Kenny passed …show more content…

The Kenny Institute still stands to this day (Cartwright 4). Part of Elizabeth’s legacy is her stubbornness; she never took no for an answer (Cohn 258). Elizabeth made people with polio feel worth something; that they were able to fight for their recovery (Cohn 258). Dr. Rogers said “the empirical evidence embodied in her patients’ recovery proved her therapy worked.” (Lerner 5) Kenny left behind countless patients that recovered faster, and lived wonderful healthier lives (Fairley 5). In Elizabeth’s hometown, Nobby, there is a museum containing artifacts and documents of her life (Fairley 5). A Sister Kenny Memorial Fund was created to award scholarships to those who have an interest in rural nursing (Fairley 5). Elizabeth Kenny’s legacy is shown through her numerous facilities that have grown her methods in physical rehabilitation for not just polio but countless other diseases. Inevitably determined as a child to become a nurse, Elizabeth Kenny was responsible for the safekeeping of patients in the war; polio became the leading disease, but she soon overcame the struggle and established treatment methods that opened the door to the medical field of physical rehabilitation becoming a legendary icon in the medical

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