see attachment W 4 H Respond to a student

Make a follow-up of a student's weekly discussion and respond with your opinion regarding to her post

------You don't have to post this in APA format necessarily, it's just giving feedback to the student with a paragraph, it doesn't have to be a lot of text----

Jerri Douglas

There were plenty of 19th century nurses that exemplified great leadership and awesome nursing care. The woman that I chose to post about is Mary Eliza Mahoney. She was born into a poor black American family in Boston, Massachusetts. She was born on April 16, 1845, and passed away January 4, 1926 after a three-year battle with breast cancer. 

Although the odds were against her, she was determined to become a nurse. She worked 15+ years at the New England Hospital for Women and Children employed as a cook, janitor, washerwoman, and nursing aide. She worked hard and diligently until she finally was allowed to study nursing. 

She graduated as an RN in 1879. She was one of the four women out of 43 who passed the final exam to become an RN. At this time, she was the only black woman in the entire United States to do so. 

Mary Mahoney was known for her caring nursing skills, she was respected, and even sought out for her nursing care. She overcame a lot of racial discrimination. Her actions helped change the mindset of people regarding nurses from minority communities. She was a member of the NAAUSC, she founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses. She participated in the civil rights movement, she was inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame in 1976 and the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.

She worked for 40 years as a nurse and when she retired, she continued to uplift and encourage colored nurses. To this day, there is a Mary Mahoney Award which is granted to nurses from minority groups. 

Mary Mahoney was the first African American woman to ever work as a nurse professionally. She spent her life nursing others, standing up for human rights, minorities in the nursing field, and strived to further the rights for all women. 

Mary Mahoney is a prime example of a woman who follows her dreams, perseveres through adversity, encourages, uplifts, and who is undeniably a leader. She was determined to become a nurse and she spent her life not only nursing others, earning respect through hard work, integrity, and advocacy. She was truly a hero for nurses, a leader, a mentor, a legend. 

References

Wessling, S. (2006). Eyes on the Prize.

Eke O, Otugo O, Isom J. Black women in medicine—rising above invisibility. The Lancet. 2021 Feb 13;397(10274):573-4.

AANP Forum, The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, Volume 18, Issue 6, (2022), Pages 596-600, ISSN 1555-4155,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2022.05.007 (Links to an external site.) . (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1555415522001799)