19 Trailblazing Nurses Who Changed Nursing History (Who Weren’t Florence Nightingale)
From one nurse to another: most of what we do never makes headlines in a positive way—but it should. Behind every shift, every patient, and every breakthrough are nurses whose names history has too often overlooked. Across generations and specialties, these visionaries broke barriers, redefined care, and shaped nursing in ways we still feel today. Their stories deserve the spotlight—and it’s time we shine it on them.
Innovators of the Past
Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845–1926): First African American Licensed Nurse and Champion for Racial Equality in Nursing
Mahoney graduated from the New England Hospital for Women and Children’s rigorous program in 1879 and later co-founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses to advance inclusion and professional recognition for Black nurses. Mahoney’s legacy lives on through major awards and memorials. The National Association for Colored Graduate Nurses created the Mary Mahoney Award in 1936—now given by the American Nurses Association to honor nurses advancing integration in the profession. She was inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame in 1976 and the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993. In 1973, nurse Helen S. Miller led a national campaign (with Chi Eta Phi and the ANA) to erect a monument at Mahoney’s Everett, Massachusetts grave, which remains a testament to her enduring impact.
Image Source: Biography: Mary Eliza Mahoney
Lillian Wald (1867–1940): Pioneer of Community and Public Health Nursing
Wald transformed health care for New York’s Lower East Side as founder of the Henry Street Settlement. Wald coined the term “public health nurse,” launched the nation’s first visiting nurse service, and paid the salary of New York City’s first public school nurse. Her work expanded access to care, created playgrounds and arts spaces, and championed racial integration, women’s suffrage, labor protections, and child health. Wald’s legacy continues through Henry Street Settlement and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York.
Image Souce: Lillian D. Wald - Nursing Theory
Estelle Massey Osborne (1901-1981): First Black Nurse with a Master’s Degree; Integrator of U.S. Nursing
Osborne was a nurse, educator, and advocate whose leadership helped dismantle racial barriers throughout American nursing. The first Black nurse to earn a master’s degree (Columbia, 1931), Osborne became president of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, dramatically increasing membership and forging alliances that led to greater access for nurses of color in professional organizations and schools. She oversaw the desegregation of key New Deal and wartime programs, served on the ANA Board of Directors, and was the first Black faculty member at NYU’s College of Nursing. Osborne’s career spanned high-level academic and policy roles, and she remains widely honored for advancing opportunity, training, and equity in nursing.
Image Source: Celebrating Estelle Osborne, nurse trailblazer | NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Hazel W. Johnson-Brown (1927–2011): First Black female general and chief of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.
Hazel Johnson-Brown broke barriers as the first Black female general and chief of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Rejected from nursing school in her hometown due to her race, she trained at Harlem Hospital and joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1955. Rising through the ranks, Johnson-Brown became chief in 1979, leading over 7,000 Army nurses and issuing the first Army Nurse Corps Standards of Practice. She championed educational access, diversity, and professionalism in nursing, later teaching at Georgetown and George Mason University. Johnson-Brown earned multiple military honors and is remembered for her lasting legacy in nursing leadership and education.
Image Source: National Museum of the United States Army
Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail (1903–1981): America’s earliest Native registered nurses
Yellowtail, the first Crow RN spent her life bridging Indigenous healing and Western medicine. She advocated for Crow traditions, patient rights, and community health, exposing abuses such as forced sterilizations and fighting for accountability in government hospitals. Yellowtail’s activism led her to found local health committees, promote cultural competence in care, and help found the American Indian Nurses Association. She won national nursing honors, and in 2002, became the first Native American inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame. Yellowtail remains a model for pluralistic, patient-centered advocacy in American nursing.
Image Souce: Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail - Wikipedia
20th-Century Nursing Innovators
Linda Richards (1841–1930): America’s first formally trained nurse,
Richards began her historic career at Boston City Hospital before joining the first nurse training class at the New England Hospital for Women and Children in 1872. After receiving her diploma, she created patient charting systems at Bellevue Hospital in New York. Richards went on to lead and reform nurse training schools across the U.S., train in England under Florence Nightingale, and established Japan’s first nursing program. She was also the first president of the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools, and her work revolutionized patient care and nurse education. Richards was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994 and is honored on the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail.
Image Source: Linda Richards - Wikipedia
Virginia Henderson (1897–1996): First Lady of Nursing
Henderson defined the nurse’s role as helping individuals—sick or well—achieve health, recovery, or a peaceful death by supporting activities they would perform unaided if able. Her acclaimed “Need Theory” framed nursing around 14 fundamental human needs, making patient independence the ultimate goal of nursing care. Henderson’s teaching, research, and writing—including a bestselling nursing textbook—reshaped nursing practice worldwide. She received nursing’s highest honors, including induction into the ANA Hall of Fame, honorary fellowships, the Christiane Reimann Prize, and has a global nursing research repository named after her.
Image Source: Virginia Henderson - Wikipedia
Hildegard Peplau (1909–1999): Renowned as the “mother of psychiatric nursing,”
Peplau revolutionized the profession through her Interpersonal Relations Theory, which defined the nurse-patient relationship as a core therapeutic tool in all nursing practice. Her leadership expanded nursing science, clinical roles, education standards, and professional credentialing. Peplau’s theory emphasizes active, collaborative, and evidence-based care, positioning the nurse-patient bond at the center of recovery and personal growth. Peplau’s influence shaped psychiatric nursing globally and encouraged all nurses to lead, innovate, and elevate standards—forever changing the art and science of practice.
Image Source: Hildegard Peplau - Wikipedia
Patricia Benner (1942–2021): Creator of the Novice-to-Expert Model in Nursing
Benner’s model outlines how clinical judgment and decision-making evolve with hands-on experience, describing five stages from novice to expert. By emphasizing that expertise is built through real-world practice—rather than solely through theory—her work has fundamentally transformed nurse mentoring, clinical training, and education programs across the globe.
Image Source: Patricia Benner's Novice To Expert Theory: THE THEORIST: Who is PATRICIA BENNER?
Modern Change-Makers
Edsel O’Connor: Psychiatric nurse; dignity-first mental health care
Benner’s model demonstrated how nurses develop clinical judgment through experience, moving from novice to expert. Her research showed that real practice, not just formal education, is essential for building expertise. This framework has transformed nursing mentorship and education across the globe—elevating experiential learning as a foundation for safety, competence, and quality patient care.
Image Source: Edsel O’Connor. Psychiatric Nurse | by Joanna Seltzer Uribe | Nurses You Should Know
Sunny G. Hallowell, PhD, PPCNP-BC : Nurse researcher & educator
Dr. Hallowell is renowned for championing patient-centered, evidence-based nursing that embraces policy and innovation. With over 15 years of pediatric and perinatal clinical experience, she has advanced neonatal and NICU outcomes, breastfeeding support, and care transitions through robust research. Dr. Hallowell has held national policy leadership roles, including Jonas Health Policy Scholar with the American Academy of Nursing and President of the Pennsylvania Delaware Valley NAPNAP chapter. Her research, teaching, and mentorship are recognized for fostering clinical inquiry, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the next generation of nurse leaders.
Ebony Barrett, DNP, APRN :Neonatal & pediatric NP; mentor and advocate
Ebony Barrett is a Haitian-American nurse practitioner from Long Island, New York, with nearly two decades of experience in neonatal and pediatric care. Inspired by her love of science, a family ethos of service, and her role supporting her mother through a serious illness—including serving as translator from English to Haitian Creole—Barrett chose nursing over medicine to blend compassion, advocacy, and hands-on care. Her career and mentorship reflect her passion for guiding families through health challenges and supporting diversity in the nursing workforce.
Image Souce: Ebony Barrett. Neonatal & Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
Alexander (Alex) Gonzalez, MSN, RN : Peri-operative nurse & informaticist
Alex Gonzalez is a Puerto Rican-American nurse born and raised in Vineland, New Jersey, now based in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant. After earning an English degree from Rowan University and teaching high school English, he shifted careers to nursing in 2012, driven by a desire to serve his community. Alex completed an accelerated BSN at Rutgers in 2013 and has since become known for integrating clinical leadership, perioperative expertise, and informatics into modern nursing practice.
Image Source: Alex Gonzalez. Peri-Operative Nurse & Informaticist
Jamla Rizek, DNP, MBA, MSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, NHDP-BC : Disaster response nurse & international educator
Jamla Rizek is a first-generation Palestinian-American nurse leader, educator, and public health responder. After earning her ADN, BSN, and two master’s degrees, she worked in diverse clinical roles including emergency nursing, school settings, corrections, and as a sexual assault nurse examiner. She is completing her DNP and has trained in disaster medicine at Harvard’s BIDMC. Jamla has served as a federal disaster nurse, lab instructor, clinical educator, and section editor for the Journal of Emergency Nursing. Her work is recognized for expertise in global nurse leadership, disaster response, and health equity advocacy.
Image Source: Jamla Rizek, DNPc, MBA, MSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, NHDP-BC, NRP, of Maryland – ENA Hall of Honor
Hector Hugo Gonzalez, PhD, RN : First Mexican-American nurse to earn a doctorate
Hector Gonzalez received his nursing diploma in 1962 and a bachelor’s in 1963 at a time when men in nursing were exceptionally rare. He earned his master’s from The Catholic University and his PhD in higher ed curriculum from the University of Texas at Austin. Gonzalez served in the Army Nurse Corps, reaching captain, then spent over 20 years leading San Antonio College’s Department of Nursing Education—creating flexible, night-based curricula and championing programs with record minority and male enrollments. He was the first male president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, served on the NLN board, and wrote the NLN’s landmark position paper on minority responsibility in nursing. A Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Gonzalez is recognized for national leadership in minority nurse recruitment and nursing education
Image Source: Hector Hugo Gonzalez. First Mexican-American Nurse
Sylvia Mendez : Civil-rights icon and nurse; Presidential Medal of Freedom (2011)
Sylvia Mendez is a retired pediatric nurse and American civil rights activist who, as a child, was the namesake and catalyst for the groundbreaking Mendez v. Westminster case—the first federal ruling to end school segregation in California. After earning nursing degrees at Orange Coast College and Cal State Los Angeles, she spent over 30 years at the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, rising to Assistant Nursing Director. In retirement, Mendez became a nationally recognized advocate for education equality, honored by President Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. Her legacy lives on through schools, monuments, and documentaries bearing her family’s name, and through her tireless work to ensure equal educational opportunity for all.
Image Source: Mendez v. Westminster: Hurdles remain 75 years after Latino segregation case
Col. Lawrence C. Washington : Early male Army Nurse Corps officer; first male nurse sworn into the Regular Army (1967)
Col. Lawrence C. Washington made history as the first male nurse—Black or white—sworn into the Regular Army Nurse Corps in 1967, advancing groundbreaking change for men in military nursing. Previously serving as an enlisted medical aidman, Washington rose to colonel, the first African American male to achieve this rank in the Army Nurse Corps. His five-decade career included numerous clinical, academic, and leadership roles, from psychiatric nursing and instruction at Howard and the University of Maryland, to chief of nursing in Army Medical Centers in Germany and Texas. A pioneer and nationally decorated nurse leader, Washington helped diversify military nursing and broaden career options for all men who followed.
Image Source: Colonel Lawrence Washington. First Male Army Nurse
Giovanna Navarro : Research nurse & holistic nurse coach
Born in Costa Rica and raised throughout Latin America and the U.S., Giovanna Navarro is an award-winning research nurse and holistic nurse coach with over 16 years of clinical experience spanning Med/Surg, telemetry, neurology, and cardiac specialties. Recognized early in her career by HCA for caregiving excellence, she later pivoted to remote care, leadership, research, and holistic health following her own experience with burnout. Now a HeartMath and NeuroChangeSolutions Certified Practitioner, Navarro empowers nurses to blend neuroscience, mind-body approaches, and holistic coaching to build well-being and resilience in healthcare settings.
Alison Hernandez : Nurse, Scientist, and Health Policy Staffer
A Mexican-born, bilingual nurse scientist and health policy leader, Hernandez earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and Spanish from the University of Miami, then completed her MSN and a PhD in Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her bedside experience in Chicago hospitals shaped her pursuit of health equity; as a federal health policy advisor and postdoctoral scholar, Hernandez specializes in healthy aging, disability rights, and culturally responsive policy. She now serves as a Policy Advisor for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, advancing legislative initiatives and promoting nurse leadership in public policy.
Image Source: Alison Hernandez, RN, PhD – Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program
Why This Matters—From One Nurse to Another
Whether in community clinics, military hospitals, civil rights movements, or disaster zones, these nurses prove that our profession is about more than tasks and titles. It’s about courage when resources are scarce, competence when the stakes are high, and advocacy that doesn’t clock out at the end of a shift.
Their legacies remind us that every chart we sign, every family we comfort, and every barrier we push through has the potential to ripple far beyond that moment. From one nurse to another—I hope these stories inspire you to see that the work you do today may become the history that shapes tomorrow.
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