Marion W. Sheahan
Bureau of Public Health Nursing New York State Department of Health
For distinguished leadership in the fields of nursing and public health.
Nursing service, the field of public health, and particularly public health nursing have assumed a new and broader stature because of Miss Sheahan's inspiring leadership, skills, and unswerving devotion to her "visions of a better world."
Her creative thinking helped to mold the plans which enabled nursing to play its proper role throughout World War II in health protection on the home front and mobilization of nursing personnel for the Armed Services.
Miss Sheahan was chairman of the National Nursing Planning Committee, which formulated a comprehensive program for nationwide action in the field of nursing. This became the blueprint which initiated and will guide progress in nursing for many years to come.
As director of public health nursing in New York State, she pioneered new methods that set the patterns for her own and many other states.
With ability and courage to reach difficult goals, Miss Sheahan has forged a record of superb achievement by her accomplishments.
