Our Shared Legacy: Nursing Education at Johns Hopkins, 1889-2006 (review)

In Our Shared Legacy, editor Mame Warren, director of the Sheridan Libraries of the Johns Hopkins University, and nurse historians Linda Sabin and Mary Frances Keen have put together a well-researched, visually elegant history of nursing education at Johns Hopkins from its inception in 1889 to the present. The volume includes a foreword by Deborah Baker, class of 1992 and M.S.N. 1997, the current president of Johns Hopkins Nurses' Alumni Association; and an introduction by Gert H. Brieger, M.D., Ph.D., and Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Medicine. The foreword provides interesting personal reflections, while the introduction contextualizes the Hopkins program within the history of nursing.

This history is organized chronologically around the leadership of Hopkins administrators, beginning with the vision of Isabel Hampton who established a program with the highest standards. Within this framework, vignettes from Hopkins graduates reveal information about student life, alumni, and faculty. The book ends with a chronology of major events from 1867 to 2005. Its great strength is the interweaving of major accomplishments with historical context, photographs of key people and places, and alumni voices. The intended public audience, including alumni and friends of the School of Nursing, will find this to be one of the finer volumes in the genre of institutional history.

The major thematic emphasis is the school's relationship to both Johns Hopkins Hospital and the university. The goal of separating the school from the hospital and the establishment of baccalaureate nursing within the university began with the leadership of M. Adelaide Nutting. She and her successors faced many obstacles, especially from physicians who were satisfied with the hospital's output of good bedside nurses. In the 1970s, alumni refused to lower standards and instead voted to close the hospital program. A baccalaureate program within the School of Health Services was short-lived, and it was not until the 1980s that the goal of baccalaureate education within Johns Hopkins University was accomplished. This involved the cooperation of hospital administrators such as Dr. Robert M. Heyssel and nurses such as Dr. Carol Gray, who became the first dean of the School of Nursing. Under the leadership of Gray's successor, Dr. Sue K. Donaldson, the school moved into its own building and became nationally ranked as one of the premier nursing programs in the country.

Although the book celebrates the accomplishments of the school, its leaders, and its alumni, the skill of professional historians comes through with scholarly critiques. The school's many ups and downs as it moved into university education are not ignored: there are clear accounts of ways it not only grew but also temporarily stood still, as it slipped behind national goals established by the nursing profession. An analysis of this kind is necessary in order for the reader to understand the institution's complex history. In addition, five pages of endnotes cite numerous primary sources. The authors describe long-standing traditions such as capping ceremonies, uniforms, and graduation processions, and how these changed over time. The reader also learns that many of the early leaders were either alumni or faculty prior to their selection to head the school. In later years, faculty members were recruited from across the country, including the first two deans. Interestingly, as of 2002, the dean is Dr. Martha Norton Hill, class of 1964.

The last chapters emphasize the accomplishment of an upper-division baccalaureate program within the university; changes in the student population, which came to include more minority students, including men; the establishment of second-degree, master's, and Ph.D. programs; and the development of a Center for Nursing Research. Throughout the years, students and faculty have maintained a lasting appreciation of the school's history and its visionary leaders. This book will appeal to not only those with a personal investment in Johns Hopkins School...