Nurses Who Made a Difference Trivia Quiz

Answer: Goldie Brangman-Dumpson

Goldie Brangman-Dumpson graduated from Harlem Hospital School of Nursing in 1943. This was during a period of time during World War 2 when nurses were trained to fill in for male doctors called to serve in the war. She continued her nursing education while working as a nurse at night.

In 1949, she established the Harlem Hospital Nurse Anesthesia program and became director until her retirement in 1985. She believed in diversity, accepting nursing students from all over the world into the anesthesia field. She's well known for helping to save the life of Martin Luther King after he was stabbed in 1958. She was part of the surgical team which helped to save Dr. King's life.

Answer: Virginia A. Henderson

Having received her nursing diploma in 1921 from the Army School of Nursing, Virginia went on to receive a master's degree in nursing education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1934. One of her goals was to help patients in her care to become as independent as possible.

She published several textbooks on nursing. Nurse Henderson placed a strong emphasis on actual clinical nursing care which resulted in her publishing a pamphlet, "Basic Principles of Nursing Care" for the International Council of Nurses (ICN).

Answer: Hazel Johnson-Brown

Born into a family of farmers in Pennsylvania, Hazel Johnson-Brown received her master's degree in Nursing Education from Columbia University and PhD in Educational Administration from Catholic University of America. While serving in the army in Korea, she was promoted to Brigadier General and the Chief of the Army Nurse Corps.

After a successful career in the military, she joined the faculty at George Mason University where she taught nursing and became Director for the Center for Health Policy at Mason until her retirement.

Answer: Margaret Sanger

Margaret came from a family of 11 children. She believed her mother's many pregnancies contributed to her early death at age 50. While practicing obstetrical nursing on the Lower East Side of New York City, Margaret witnessed high rates of infant and maternal mortality as well as deaths from illegal abortions. These observations made her more socially aware of the need for women to avoid unnecessary pregnancies. For Sanger, the answer was birth control.

Sanger's many legal appeals eventually helped to establish the right of doctors to give advice concerning birth control. She founded the "American Birth Control League" and served as its president until 1928. The birth control pill was introduced in 1965. That same year the U.S. Supreme Court made birth control legal for married couples in the USA.

Answer: Walt Whitman

Whitman self-published his poetry collection, "Leaves of Grass," while working as a journalist. His interest in nursing came after helping his brother recover from a wound he had received during the American Civil War. This paved the way to practice as a volunteer nurse. Prior to the American Civil War, women were not encouraged to become nurses due to social taboos. Whitman's poem, "The Wound Dresser", describes his experiences volunteering as a nurse.

Answer: Edith Cavell

After helping to nurse her sick father back to health, Edith decided to to become a nurse. In 1896 she began her nursing training at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. Once she completed her studies, she worked as a governess in Belgium before returning to England.

After world War I broke out, she returned to Belgium and became involved with a Belgian underground movement that smuggled soldiers into Holland, a neutral country. At some point she was caught by the Germans and, after much pleading by friends and family to spare her life, Edith was tried for treason and executed.

The Edith Cavell Memorial, a statue depicting Nurse Cavell in her nurse's uniform, is displayed in her honor in London.

Answer: Christiane Reimann

This hard-working nurse was quite a go-getter. Although her family was wealthy, she used her own money to donate to the ICN(International Council of Nurses) and traveled the world in an effort to encourage other nursing organizations to join. Christiane's family didn't want her to become a nurse.

They didn't believe that nurses could be ladies, a common way of thinking at the time. Self-assured and driven, Christiane did become a nurse and even received her master's degree in nursing from Teachers College Columbia University in 1925.

Answer: Malinda(Linda) Richards

Having received informal nursing training from her mother's doctor, Linda decided to become a nurse after her fiancé's death. She enrolled in a nurse training program at the New England Hospital for Women and Children and graduated in 1873.

While performing nursing duties at Bellevue Hospital, she developed a much needed system for keeping patient records. She pursued further training and education at King's College Hospital and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in Scotland. Once she returned to the U.S. she fulfilled many key positions as President of the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools, Director of Training Schools at the Taunton Insane Hospital in Massachusetts and the Worchester Hospital for the Insane. She retired in 1911.

Answer: Anna Maxwell

With a strong desire to help others, Anna graduated from the Boston City Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1880. Much like Florence Nightingale, she witnessed suffering and rampant disease while serving as a nurse during the Spanish-American War. Taking a bold step forward, she requested permission from the Surgeon General to bring in trained nurses to help in the military hospitals. 1,500 contract nurses were brought in to help. That figure eventually increased to over 21,000.

She was also responsible for creating a movement for nurses to receive military rank in the armed forces.

Answer: Loretta C. Ford

The nurse practitioner program was launched in 1965 in Denver, Colorado. At the time she was a practicing nurse, Loretta noticed a lack of primary care physicians in her community. Along with Dr. Henry Silver, a pediatrician at the University of Colorado Medical Center, she created the first pediatric nurse practitioner training program. Under her tutelage, nurses were taught to factor in social, psychological, economic and environmental factors while preparing patient care plans.

In 1972, Nurse Ford was called to the position of Founding Dean of the University of Rochester School of Nursing.