Isabel Robb Role

Nursing’s development from an occupation to a profession follows the devotion and sacrifice of many amazing women throughout history. Considered to be one of the oldest professions, women have performed what could be considered nursing duties since the beginning of time. Although there have been many events and many individuals who have contributed to nursing’s evolution from the occupation it was once considered to the profession that now exists, the development of formal education opportunities and scholarly resources and the women who created them is what fascinates me most. Without knowing, each of the following five women helped lay the groundwork for what Lucie Kelly, RN, PhD, FAAN, eventually termed the eight characteristics of a profession

or Kelly’s Criteria (Black 2014).
Isabel Hampton Robb came to nursing as a second career after attending a nurse training school.

Robb spent many years as a practicing nurse before becoming involved in education of nurses and nursing organizations. She devoted a significant amount of her career to founding and leading various nurse organizations. Robb’s desire to unite nurses eventually lead to the creation of the Association of Nursing Alumni which eventually evolved into the American Nurses Association (ANA) (The Isabel Hampton Robb Collection, n.d.). In 1896, she became the very first president of the ANA (Black, 2014). Isabel Hampton Robb’s contribution to nursing will always be grounded in the fact that she was able to organize a group of likeminded individuals into a national movement that was the precursor to the standards of practice we adhere to today. Many of Kelly’s Criteria can be recognized in the work of Robb. First and foremost is her was her ability and fortitude to organize and lead “an organization that encourages and supports high standards of practice” (Black,

2014).
Lavinia L. Dock, as an astute nurse and supervisor, recognized the difficulties nursing students often had with studying drugs and solutions and authored Materia Medica for Nurses in 1890 to provide nurses under her instruction assistance and guidance in these areas (The Lavinia Dock Collection, n.d.). Considered one of the first nursing textbooks, it quickly became a standard teaching tool in nursing curriculum (The Lavinia Dock Collection, n.d.). Kelly’s Criteria “the services involve intellectual activities; individual responsibility is a strong feature” is well supported by Dock’s desire to educate nurses and provide them with the knowledge they require to be successful in their chosen profession (Black, 2014).
Sophia Palmer, another nurse who was involved in organizing the American Nurses Association, had an additional fame to claim during her career.

A staunch supporter in the development of nursing as a profession, Palmer helped launch and was the first editor of the Journal of Nursing in 1900 (Black, 2014). She spent 20 years as editor-in-chief of the periodical and wrote many editorials that helped to guide and shape the nursing profession. She viewed herself as a champion of the individual nurse but ultimately assisted in providing the foundation of the profession of nursing (Sophia French Palmer, n.d.). Palmer’s ideas and writings support Kelly’s Criteria of a profession by supporting the thought that a profession is consists of “a special body of knowledge that is continually enlarged through research” (Black,

2014).
Mary Adelaide Nutting felt strongly that nurses should be educated in a university setting. In 1907, Nutting accepted the position as head of the newly created department of nursing education at Teachers College, Columbia University thus giving her the distinct honor of being the first professor of nursing (Black, 2014). Nutting will always be remembered for her outstanding contributions to the development of university based nursing education programs. Her career embodies Kelly’s Criteria that “practitioners are educated in institutions of higher learning” (Black, 2014).
Lydia Hall opened the Loeb Center in 1962 and changed the way nursing was viewed by many. Hall’s ideas focused on the theory that the direct professional nurse-to-patient relationship is in itself therapeutic and that the care nurses provide is priority when caring for ill patients (Kimball, Lee & Summers, n.d.). She advocated for more autonomy for professional nurses whom she felt were more than capable of managing sub-acute care and educating patients Kimball et al., n.d.). Although she passed away before many of her theories could be developed thoroughly, her thoughts on nursing as a profession lined up perfectly with many of Kelly’s Criteria. Hall saw nursing in much the way Kelly does, “practitioners are relatively independent and control their own policies and activities” and “the services provided are vital to humanity and the welfare of society” (Black, 2014).
The significant contributions made by these five women plus the many more nurses that came before them and after them have changed the face of nursing from a self-taught, learn as you go occupation to a profession requiring formal education and following high standards of practice. Each one of these women embody what Lucie Kelly, RN, PhD, FAAN, would eventually define as the eight characteristics of a profession. As nurses they vital to humanity and the welfare of society; provided knowledge through research; were intellectual and accountable; were educated; worked independently; were motivated by what they considered their life’s work; followed a code of ethics; and participated in an organization that supported their high standards of practice (Black, 2014). They were innovators and leaders and truly helped shape nursing into the profession it is today.