Virginia Avenel Henderson was described in so many names. Some called her “The Nightingale of Modern Nursing”. Others named her as “Modern-Day Mother of Nursing” and “The 20th Century Florence Nightingale”. She was born on November 30, 1897 in Kansas, Missouri and was the fifth of eight children of Daniel Brosius Henderson and Lucy Minor Abbot..
The Henderson family moved to Virginia in 1901, where Miss Henderson grew into adulthood. In 1918, she entered the Army School of Nursing in Washington, DC, and in 1921, she received her nursing diploma. She worked at the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service for 2 years after graduation. Henderson, very much wanted to teach nursing, therefore accepted her first instructor position in 1924 at the Norfolk Protestant Hospital in Virginia.
In 1934 and for the next fourteen years, she remained at tTeachers College, Columbia University where she joined the teacher's faculty and earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degree in nursing education.
In 1953, Henderson accepted a research associate position in Yale University School of Nursing. The project was designed to survey and assess the status of nursing research in the United States. From 1959 to 1971, Henderson was funded to direct the Nursing Studies Index Project. The result of the project was the publication of the four-volume Nursing Studies Index, the first annotated index of nursing research. Henderson had now deserved the title of research associate emeritus at Yale University. At 75 years of age, Henderson focused her career on international teaching and speaking engagements.
- well known nursing educator and a prolific author.
- received honorary doctoral degrees from the Catholic University of America, Pace University, University of Rochester, University of Western Ontario,Yale University
- warranted an obituary in the New York Times, Friday March 22. 1996.
- honored at the Annual Meeting of the Nursing and Allied Health Section of the Medical Library Association In 1985.
Contributions
In 1937 Henderson and others created a basic nursing curriculum for the National League for Nursing in which education was “patient centered and organized around nursing problems rather than medical diagnoses” (Henderson,1991)
In 1939, she revised: Harmer’s classic textbook of nursing for its 4th edition, and later wrote the 5th; edition, incorporating her personal definition of nursing (Henderson,1991)
Although she was retired, she was a frequent visitor to nursing schools well into her 90’s. O’Malley (1996) states that Henderson is known as the modern-day mother of nursing.
Her work influenced the nursing profession in America and throughout the world. The founding members of ICIRN (Interagency Council on Information Resources for Nursing) and a passionate advocate for the use and sharing of health information resources.
In 1978 the fundamental concept of nursing was revisited by Virginia Henderson from Yale University School of Nursing (USA)
