Florence Wald facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Florence Wald
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| Born |
Florence Sophie Schorske
April 19, 1917 |
| Died | November 8, 2008 (aged 91) |
| Alma mater | Mount Holyoke College Yale School of Nursing |
| Occupation | Dean of the Yale School of Nursing |
| Known for | Pioneering the American hospice movement |
Florence Wald (born April 19, 1917 – died November 8, 2008) was an important American nurse. She used to be the head of the Yale School of Nursing. Many people call her "the mother of the American hospice movement" because she helped start the first hospice program in the United States. This was called Connecticut Hospice. Later in her life, Florence Wald also worked to bring hospice care to people in prisons. In 1998, she was honored by being added to the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Contents
Florence Wald's Life Story
Growing Up and Becoming a Nurse
Florence Sophie Schorske was born in New York City on April 19, 1917. When she was a child, she spent many months in the hospital because she had a long-term breathing problem. This time in the hospital made her want to become a nurse.
Florence went to Mount Holyoke College and earned a degree in 1938. She then studied at the Yale School of Nursing, getting her master's degree in nursing in 1941.
After World War II, Florence worked as a nurse in New York. She also taught nursing at Rutgers University. In 1956, she earned another master's degree from Yale University in mental health nursing. She then became a teacher in Yale's nursing program.
In 1959, Florence Wald became the head, or Dean, of the Yale School of Nursing. Around this time, she met Henry Wald again. They had first met when she was doing a study for the United States Army. They got married later that year.
Starting the Hospice Movement
Florence Wald became very interested in helping people who were very sick and nearing the end of their lives. This interest grew in 1963 when she heard a talk by a doctor named Cicely Saunders. Dr. Saunders was from England and was a leader in this field. She later started St. Christopher's Hospice, which was the world's first special hospice building.
Dr. Saunders talked about using "palliative care" for people with serious illnesses like cancer. This type of care helps patients feel comfortable and focuses on their relationships. It also helps them prepare for death. Florence Wald was deeply moved by this talk. She realized that other nurses also worried about how people with serious illnesses were cared for.
After hearing Dr. Saunders, Florence Wald worked to change the nursing school's lessons. She wanted students to focus on the patient and their family, keeping everyone involved in the care. In 1966, she left her job as dean. Her goal was to create a hospice in the United States, just like the one Dr. Saunders was building in England.
Even though she was no longer the dean, Florence continued to teach at Yale. She visited Dr. Saunders' hospice in England twice with her husband. St. Christopher's Hospice opened in 1967, and Florence worked there for a month in 1969 to learn more.
Building the First American Hospice
Florence's husband, Henry, left his engineering job in 1971. He went to Columbia University to study how to plan hospitals. His master's degree project helped create the plan for the Connecticut Hospice. Florence also did a two-year study. She looked at how very sick patients and their families felt when they were cared for at home or in a healthcare place.
After returning to the United States, Florence brought together a team of doctors, religious leaders, and nurses. They worked to understand what dying patients needed. In 1974, Florence Wald, along with two pediatricians and a chaplain from Yale, started the first hospice in the United States. It was called the Connecticut Hospice and was located in Branford, Connecticut.
At first, the program offered care in people's homes. In 1980, they opened their first building, a 44-bed facility in Branford. Soon after it opened, Florence had to leave the hospice. There were disagreements about her ideas for the program.
Other hospice programs began to appear, following Florence Wald's new ideas. By 1980, a government program called Medicaid started paying for hospice care. This caused many more hospice facilities to open. By the time Florence Wald passed away in 2008, there were over 3,000 hospice programs in the United States. They helped about 900,000 patients each year.
Later Life and Prison Hospice Care
Even when she was in her 80s, Florence Wald continued her important work. She traveled to prisons in Connecticut for a research project. This was for the National Prison Hospice Association, an organization that helps bring hospice care to people in prison. Florence was on the board of directors for this group.
Florence worked on ways to make hospice care available inside prisons. This included training inmates to become volunteers to help other dying inmates. She also looked into arranging for outside hospice care for inmates who were very sick and allowed to leave prison for medical reasons. Florence believed that training prisoners to provide this care would help the sick and also help the volunteers. It would also cost prisons almost nothing.
In 1996, Yale University gave Florence Wald an honorary degree. When she received it, she was introduced as "the mother of the American hospice movement."
In 1998, Florence Wald spoke about her interest in prison hospice care. She said that people outside of prison often do not understand life inside. She noted that many prisoners have had hard lives and may not know how to take care of their health. She also mentioned the feeling of shame, thinking that dying in prison is the worst failure.
Florence Wald passed away at her home in Branford, Connecticut, on November 8, 2008. She was 91 years old.
