Leadership in public health

The Nursing Services of the US Public Health Service have significantly furthered the interests of public health and made a notable contribution to the advancement of the well-being of this country through leadership in public health nursing and through studies and research in the manifold fields of nursing.

From the field of nursing education, Lucile Petry Leone (top left of picture) was called into war-time service to the difficult task of recruitment and training of personnel to meet the expanded need for nursing services in the military and civil populations. Her development and direction of the Cadet Nursing Program was a notable contribution to the war effort, achieved with strict adherence to the high standards that had already been realized by the nursing profession. This accomplishment paved the way for the needed post-war expansion of nursing service to the American public, a program in which the nursing resources of the US Public Health Service, under the guidance and direction of Mrs. Leone, have played a role of leadership and guidance.

In Pearl McIver (bottom of picture), public health nursing has had a forceful leader who has contributed immeasurably to the general understanding and appreciation of the role of the public health nurse and of the contribution that she makes to the over-all program of community health service and protection. The development of nursing programs in state and local health departments throughout the nation and their expansion into one of the bulwarks of public health are due in no small measure to the leadership, the enthusiasm and the farseeing guidance and stimulus provided by Miss McIver. Her devotion to the highest ideal of training and service has aided immeasurably in the development of the present professional standards of public health nursing.

The development of a broad and comprehensive nursing program geared to fit the needs of the American public within the limitations of available funds and personnel requires careful study of the nursing resources of the nation. Charged with the responsibility for appraisal of nursing needs and resources, Margaret Arnstein (top right of picture) has furnished comprehensive national leadership and has given invaluable stimulation and guidance to state and local nursing programs in self appraisal of their respective problems. Her studies have constituted a pattern on which future programs of nursing research can be based. With a broad knowledge and deep appreciation of the potentialities of public health and hospital nursing services and their contribution to human welfare, Miss Arnstein has provided outstanding counsel, guidance, and leadership in the elevation and maintenance of the present high standards of nursing service in the United States.