Lillian Wald - Research Paper Example

She began her nursing practice at the New York Juvenile Asylum. The children, who stayed there belonged to poor families and Wald began teaching their parents home nursing. She was the author of “public health nurse” term. She made an emphasis on the necessity to integrate nursing help in the public community. She took care of poor people, immigrants, their children, ethnic minorities and many other underprivileged members of the society. Wald’s contribution to nursing and humanity The results of her work can be found in the book “The House on Henry Street” (1911) and “Windows on Henry Street” (1934).

Lillian Wald initiated visiting nursing and it is one of her greatest contributions to nursing and community health. Wald and nurses, who followed her managed to provide their services to 450 patients in the Henry Street. Therefore, the modern nurses should learn patience, tolerance, a great care and sympathy shown to their patients. Moreover, a need to improve public health and improve relations in the families of the community would benefit for the public health improvement for sure. Lillian Wald initiated visiting nursing and by 1933 her staff had grown to 265 nurses who made 550,000 home visits and they provided their services to 100,000 patients.

In 40s there was a division of Wald’s organization and a freestanding agency of nursing services. Wald’s visiting nursing was directed on help and aid to the underprivileged families.  Her initiative to organize personal visiting resulted in the New York City.  The main goal of visiting nursing was in underlying the important role of a visiting nurse in the community was in dealing with the social problems that accompany illness. Definitely, public health of the community depends on correlation between social and health issues.

Moreover, Lillian Wald was not indifferent to women’s housekeeping practices. Recreational activities for families were also her main concerns. She was the founder of the Women's Trade Union League in 1903. Starting from 1930 she travelled in Russia, China, Japan and Hawaii in order to get better concerned about humanitarian issues. From 1915 this woman expanded her caring about the American society, public health and community activities. She was the President Roosevelt’s assistant protecting children against labor, providing them with the right to attend school, improving education of mentally handicapped people.

Civil rights protection was also one of the crucial aspects of Wald’s interests. Protection of African-American rights, protection of women’s rights resulted in development of specified programs and campaigns and establishment of the Foreign Policy Organization and the American Civil Liberties Union (Daniels, 1995). Lillian Wald contributed much into public welfare and was an active citizen, a caring woman and she has shown that nursing is a way she wanted to share her care with the community.

Moreover, a visiting nurse and Wald’s living near her patients, when they had severe health conditions means that this woman was a sensitive and caring person. She struggled for human rights protection, family well-being, women and children health and felt a great sympathy for them. In the field of nursing, Wald’s contribution can be considered as the most humane attitude reflected in public health caring. Wald claimed that