Faye Glenn Abdellah
Personal Information
Born: 1919
Died: 2017
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Fitkin Memorial Hospital (now Ann May School of Nursing) RN; Douglass Residential College of Rutgers University; Teacher's college at Columbia University BS, MA & PhD Educational Psychology
""We cannot wait for the world to change . . . Those of us with intelligence, purpose, and vision must take the lead and change the world . . . I promise never to rest until my work has been completed!”"
— Faye Glenn Abdellah
Professional Life
Field of Study: Nursing
Institution/Corporation: Federal Nursing Services; National Library of Nursing
Degrees & Memberships: 11 Honorary Degrees
Awards & Achievements
Awards: Over 50 including: 5 Distinguished Service Medals; 2000 National Women's Hall of Fame; 2012 American Nurses Association Hall of Fame; 1994 Living Legend, American Academy of Nursing; 1989 Surgeon General's Medallion
Achievements: 1st nurse to hold rank of Rear Admiral in the US Navy; developed 1st tested cardiac care unit; helped change the focus of nursing from disease centered to patient-centered; developed Patient Assessment of Care Method to evaluate health care & it is now the national standard; 1993 founded Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; developed Abdellahs 21 Nursing Problems which focuses on the patients needs & demands
1st nurse to hold the rank of Rear Admiral in the US Navy; developed the 1st tested coronary care unit; helped change the focus of nursing from disease-centered to patient-centered; her Patient Assessment of Care Evaluation method to evaluate health care is now the national standard; founded the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Korean War veteran
in frustration over the lack of scientific basis in the National League of Nursing guidlines she burned a stack of curriculum guides in the courtyard at Yale University while working there; it took her 1 year to pay for the destroyed books
has received over 50 academic awards & recognitions
her theory identified 10 steps to identify a patient's problem & 11 nursing skills used to develop a treatment typology (for a list of both sets of steps see nursing-theory.org/nursing-theorists/Faye-Abellah.phys)
her only sibling (an older brother) died of pancreatic cancer after a 5-year tour of duty in the Philippine Islands during WWII where he & others were exposed to a highly toxic water supply
decided to be a nurse after witnessing the explosion of the Hindenburg when she was 18 & feeling helpless at her inability to help others
her BS focused on sciences like physiology & chemistry whuile her MA & PhD focused on education
worked at the Public Health Service 40 years
a collection of her papers is at the National Library of Medicine