Nursing Historian Celebrates College of Nursing at Cecil Striker Lecture

Reflecting on the past and looking to the future, nursing historian Julie Fairman, PhD, RN, delivered the keynote address at the 7th annual lecture of the Cecil Striker Society at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Nursing held on April 14, 2016 in Kresge Auditorium. Her address was titled, "Making History: From the University of Cincinnati to the Future of Nursing."

The lecture, hosted by the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions and the Cecil Striker Society for the History of Medicine, celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Cincinnati.

"This really is a school on the move," she says about the UC College of Nursing. "It has led new models of nursing education in the past and it will continue to do so in the future."

Fairman is a Nightingale Professor of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and Chair of the Biobehavioral Health Sciences Department. She is the co-director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Future of Nursing Scholars program and the director emerita of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing.

During her address, Fairman interwove the history of nursing in the United States with the role the UC College of Nursing played in the development of the profession. Among the significant people she mentioned was Laura Logan, who became director of Cincinnati General Hospital School of Nursing in 1914 and helped create the University School of Nursing and Health. Logan is the namesake of Logan Hall on the UC medical campus. 

"The UC College of Nursing is known across the country for innovation," says Fairman. "This school has such a great history, and is such an important school in terms of the nursing profession."

Fairman also looked to the future, highlighting the Future of Nursing Report and the RWJF Future of Nursing Scholars. Of the 61 RWJF Future of Nursing Scholars across the US, three are UC College of Nursing graduate students and were present at the lecture. Sarah Burke, Benjamin Fishback and Daniel Hopgood each described their background and their research.

"It's time for change, it's time for reflecting on our past and it's time to achieve great things," Fairman said. "I'd like to congratulate the College of Nursing for their years of innovative education, creating expert clinicians, leaders and scientists. There is still much to be done, but you are so well positioned to lead these changes."

The presentation will be available on the Winkler Center's website: http://www.libraries.uc.edu/winkler-center.html