The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing will host “Whispers of Hope: Before the Tuberculosis Cure and Beyond,” a conversation with Virginia Allen, LPN, DHL, one of the last living Sea View Hospital Black Angels. The event will be moderated by Vivienne Pierce McDaniel, DNP, MSN, RN, FADLN, on Tuesday, April 29, at noon in VUSN Nursing Annex room 161. The program kicks off VUSN’s Nurses Month programming and will also be available via live stream.
Allen made history as part of a group of more than 300 nurses who became known as the Black Angels for their work on the front line of the tuberculosis epidemic, providing care to some of New York City’s poorest and sickest patients in the early-to-mid 1900s. Attending patients with the highly contagious disease when no one else would, they broke racial barriers and risked their lives caring for patients. Much of their work played a major role in the desegregation of New York hospitals and was instrumental in finding a tuberculosis cure.
Pierce McDaniel will moderate and chat with 93-year-old Allen about her role as a Black Angel and nursing from the perspective of someone who lived through the historic changes of the last century.
An executive nurse consultant, nursing advocate and educator, Pierce McDaniel is a frequent presenter and well-known speaker. She has been recognized for her outstanding leadership and contributions to nursing with various awards, including the prestigious American Nurses Association’s Leadership in Ethics Award and the National Black Nurse Association’s Presidential Founders Spirit Award. Pierce McDaniel is a fellow of the inaugural American Association of Colleges of Nursing Diversity Leadership Institute and the inaugural Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing.
The event is open to the public. To RSVP, please click here. Click to watch the live stream event.