Nursing History Heroines is designed to educate by presenting the stories of both famous and obscure nurses of history. My ‘first person’ interpretations allow the heroines to come to life. In vintage costuming, I interpret the scope, span, contributions and personal history of these notable nurses.
In this age of media, traditional textbook lecturing methods need a ‘shot in the arm’. Conveying the same information, my portrayals have the heroines themselves, dressed in historic garb, tell their stories. It becomes a millennium teaching tool.
These heroines encompass a variety of peoples, cultural challenges and medical crisis’s of the past. Many are pioneers in their field.
Florence Nightingale stands before her audience dramatically describing the conditions for the soldiers in the Crimean War. Lillian Wald draws her listeners into the slums of New York City as she tells of the pitiful health neglect of immigrants at the turn of the 20th Century. It is effective to have Dorothea Dix appeal to her audience to have compassion on her mentally insane, ‘who are caged, chained and lashed into obedience’.
Many health challenges have been met, i.e. sanitary condition, antibiotics. Through these presentations, it becomes apparent that other nursing heroines faced diseases that have returned to haunt us and become a modern nursing issue, i.e. smallpox.
Feedback from my audiences affirms their enthusiasm. “Your heroine reminded me of why I chose nursing as a vocation.” “My nursing has become mechanical. Because of your presentation, I’m determined to put the heart back into my work with patients.”
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