It was all smiles today when 2^nd year MEPN students enjoyed an early birthday celebration complete with cake and champagne, in honor of Florence Nightingale’s birthday on May 12^th. What a great break amidst the end-of-the year tests, papers, and presentations.

The real treat was the presentation by USD’s own Dr. Sally Hardin and Dr. Patricia Roth, both Nightingale scholars in their own right. Dean Hardin presented a historical review of how far nursing has come since the Crimean War (i.e. universal precautions). Dean Hardin also had a replica of the Nightingale lamp which was used to guide nurses to patient assessment during the Crimean War.  USD School of Nursing is also honored to be the owner of a ‘first edition; of Nightingale’s Note on Nursing.

Dr. Roth presented a behind the scenes view of the challenges women faced in nursing during the late 1800’s.

An interesting fact is both of these scholars were close friends/colleagues with the USD School of Nursing founding Dean, Dr. Irene Palmer. Dr. Palmer was the preeminent Nightingale Scholar of our time.  We can only imagine some of the interesting conversations that have taken place at those birthday celebrations!