Henderson, Virginia (1897–1996)

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Henderson, Virginia (1897–1996)

American nurse. Born Virginia Avenel Henderson, Nov 30, 1897, in Kansas City, Missouri; died Mar19, 1996, in Branford, Connecticut; dau. of Lucy Minor Abbot Henderson and Daniel Brosius Henderson (attorney); graduate of Army School of Nursing, 1921; Columbia University Teachers College, BS, 1932, MA, 1934.

Referred to as "first lady of nursing," created a standard definition of nursing as well as textbooks and an index to literature about nursing; worked at Lillian Wald's Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service in NYC and later at Visiting Nurse Association in DC; began teaching at Norfolk Protestant Hospital School in VA (1924), the 1st full-time nursing teacher there, and in the state of VA; researched nursing with Yale University sociologist Leo Simmons (from1953) and appointed director of the Nursing Studies Index Project (1959); was a Yale University research associate emerita (from 1972); embarked on an international speaking tour (1972). Wrote the popular Textbook of the Principles and Practice of Nursing (1939), Basic Principles of Nursing Care (1960, trans. into 25 languages), The Nature of Nursing (1966) and the multivolumed Nursing Studies Index (1963–72).

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Henderson, Virginia (1897–1996)

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