When I think of nursing as a career, I cannot help but think that the laws, practices, and procedures all started with someone’s theories and thoughts. Obviously, people such as Florence Nightingale come to mind, however, there is one more person in particular that really stood out to me, Isabel Hampton Robb, an American nurse theorist, advocate for higher nursing education, and the founder of several nursing associations. Through her standards of teachings and writings, she paved the path for millions of future nurses to understand our duties, expectations, and rights. Because of her genius theories and ideas, they are all practices that students like myself still are implemented in nursing programs worldwide today.
On August 26, 1859, in Welland, Ontario a leader was born. After graduating high school she had a short career as a high school teacher which came to an end in 1881 once she enrolled in Bellevue Training School for Nurses in New York, becoming her first step towards her future role model and leadership position. After graduating from nursing school she was employed at several hospitals throughout the world including hospitals in Rome, Germany, and France and by 1889 she became the first Superintendent of Nurses and Principal of the Training School at Johns Hopkins Hospital (Chinn, 2018). It was here that she became known for having strict admission criteria, entry times for applicants, and a tough grading system for nursing students. In 1894 she gave up her position at John Hopkins Hospital and followed her heart and the love of her life whom she married and moved to Cleveland Ohio with. Isabell Hampton Robb has had many accomplishments and contributions to nursing throughout her life, including founding the Journal Club and creating an Alumnae Association. In summary of an article I read written on the ANA Enterprise website, the Journal Club became the Alumnae Magazine and then was later changed to the American Journal of Nursing, and the Alumnae Association was eventually called the Nurses Association Alumnae of the Us and Canada. The magazine and association merged and became the American Nurses Association.
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Isabell Hampton Robb realized that the nursing education system was extremely unorganized, had low standards upon admission and the curriculum was not as formal as it should be. This lead her to propagate new teaching material that would forever influence the way nursing schools were run. She wrote several textbooks including Nursing Ethics and Educational Standards for Nurses that would serve as a basis for nursing practice from the 1900s until today. Isabell Hampton Robb set standards for nursing students that are still applicable today. Upon glancing over one book, in particular, History of Professional Nursing in the United States, a few things really intrigued me, beginning with the expectations of a student nurse that Isabell Hampton Robb deemed necessary. I felt like this was extremely relatable to me because I am a nursing student. The expectations summarized in this book are all standards that I think the AHC nursing education staff strongly implement, particularly the learning tool of constant repetition being the only way one can learn and become familiar enough with the information. Through repetition, one can gain confidence and over time become more precise and accurate. This standard of nursing education reminds me so much of the everyday repetition and intensity that I am taught as a student. Even though each class I am taking is a different type of study, they are all somehow related and seem to repeat the same standards and education. History of Professional Nursing through the United States also summarizes specifications taught by Isabell Hampton Robb. The high expectations begin with education, implementation of a strict uniform, and having a soft-spoken yet commanding voice is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the expectations Isabell Hampton Robb had for nursing students. Many people might say that the strictness of nursing school is extensive or that Isabell Hampton Robb’s ideas of what makes up a great nurse are extreme, but I disagree. Everything I was reading had me so intrigued and inspired. She was so intelligent and in touch with what it took to become a nurse that she even went to the extreme to talk about how tired a nursing student should be, yet assuring the reader it was okay because being tired was secondary to her education.
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