Saga - Diversity as a Hallmark of the NLN’s History - Part 2

This episode of the NLN Nursing EDge Unscripted Saga track is part 2 of 2 exploring the diversity as a hallmark of the NLN's history.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the leading organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. Find past episodes of the NLN Nursing EDge podcast online. Get instant updates by following the NLN on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. For more information, visit NLN.org.

Transcript

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Welcome to this episode of Nursing EDge Unscripted Saga, where we journey through the history of  nursing education using stories that connect the past to the present and then our future  as we reimagine our teaching, learning, and scholarship. It is often said that the past  teaches us about the present to study history is to study change. This year Saga gives voice  to nursing through the words of our early nurse leaders who organized a discipline and carved  out systems to formalize the education of nurses throughout the United States. In Their Own Words  illuminates the visionary work of NLN pathfinders who question traditional curriculum paradigms and,  in the process, co-created standards for nursing education to build the discipline of nursing. In  part one we discussed how leaders of the Society and NLNE proposed new ideas and perspectives  in the context of mutual sharing diversity of thought and ideas was central to their work. In  part two we will discuss how the major nursing organ organizations reorganized to create a  more unified voice for nursing and how membership racial and ethnic diversity was finally addressed,  despite the continued absence of diversity in nursing programs. Throughout the 20th century,  individuals and schools joined the NLNE through the state leagues. In 1940, the NLN board of  directors recognized that in order to advocate for a diverse national membership a new strategy  needed to be developed since state leagues in the south prohibited membership for Black  nurses. In 1940, at the 46th annual meeting in Philadelphia, delegates voted to change  the organizational bylaws to create the option of individual membership for nurses who "are  not eligible for membership in state leagues." Similarly, that same year, the house of delegates  of the American Nurses Association authorized membership for Black nurses barred from joining  the association because of the exclusionary policies of their respective state nurses  associations. Diversity of membership was finally achieved for both organizations, but it would take  years of members from diverse backgrounds to be fully engaged in state organizations. There is  no more powerful illustration of the painful and prolonged journey to an inclusive organization  than the story told by Dr. Mary Elizabeth Carnegie about her experiences while dean of Florida A&M  University in the late 1940s. In her words, as recounted to historian Dr. Sandy Lewenson:  "The State Board had a conference in Jacksonville at a hotel and invited me to present my rotation  plan...It came time for lunch and I could not sit and eat with them. They put me way over in  the corner by myself and I couldn't eat. So, I left there and went back to campus. I said  I'm not going back there...And one older faculty member said, "Dean, that's what they want you to  do...you're playing right in their hands when you say I'm not going back. You are going back again  and again." It was up to me to take the leadership role and really fight for real integration,  not just on paper. You never win by staying away." As Dr. Carnegie and others struggled for equality,  the national organization also recognized the need for unity of purpose among the major  nursing organizations. In 1944, Ruth Sleeper, president of the NLNE, commissioned a study of  leading nursing organizations to determine if a better way to organize and promote professional  nursing existed. Ms. Sleeper recognized that to achieve a wider sphere of influence, nursing  first had to be unified. Fragmentation along educational lines had created isolated groups  of educators and practitioners who could not communicate effectively with one another. In 1949,  Ms. Sleeper presented a plan to form two national organizations: an already existing organization,  the American Nurses Association, which had joined with the National Association of Colored Graduate  Nurses and a new organization, the National League for Nursing, which United the NLNE,  the National Organization for Public Health Nursing, and the Association for  Collegiate Schools of Nursing. In 1952, at the 59th annual convention in Atlanta City,  delegates voted to accept the new structure and selected Ms. Sleeper to become the first president  of the new organization. The new NLN moved swiftly to create a more inclusive community. Ms. Willie  May Johnson of the Public Health Nursing Service of Montclair, New Jersey was elected as the NLN's  inaugural board of directors as its first African American member. In 1953 members voted to approve  a position that "all activities of the NLN shall include all groups regardless of race,  color, religion, and sex." By 1959, a Patients Bill of Rights was adopted calling for nurses  "to respect the individuality dignity and rights of every person regardless of race,  color, creed, national origin, social or economic status." The NLN's effort in the mid 20th century,  to create a more diverse membership is consistent with the NLN's current core value of diversity and  inclusion, which affirms that by acknowledging the legitimacy of us all, we move beyond tolerance to  celebrate the richness that differences bring forth. Throughout the history of the Society,  the NLNE and finally the NLN, leaders shared a collective commitment to diversity of thought and  perspective, and finally diversity of membership challenging long-held beliefs, calling for reform  and a transformative future. In a speech in 1972, perhaps Ms. Sleeper said it best:  "When walls crumble, and positive interaction really begins, great things are possible." And so the Saga continues and may our Saga continue as we bring to a  close this episode of Nursing EDge Unscripted Saga. Thank you for joining us and remember:  Good teaching doesn't just happen...find your fit, push the boundaries, and celebrate the ahas.