Who is considered the founder of public health nursing?

Who is considered the founder of public health nursing?

• A. Lillian Wald
• B. Mary Breckinridge
• C. Lavinia Dock
• D. Mary Mahoney

Answer: (A)

Public health nursing centers on delivering care in the community with a focus on prevention, health education, and linking individuals to social services. Lillian Wald is regarded as the founder because she created the Henry Street Settlement in New York City and launched the visiting nurse service there, solidifying a model that integrates nursing with social reform and community-based health care. This approach established the blueprint for public health nursing as a distinct field. Mary Breckinridge did important work expanding rural health and midwifery through the Frontier Nursing Service, but that represents a specific rural initiative rather than the origin of public health nursing as a whole. Lavinia Dock and Mary Mahoney were influential nurses and reformers, but not the founders of public health nursing.

Public health nursing centers on delivering care in the community with a focus on prevention, health education, and linking individuals to social services. Lillian Wald is regarded as the founder because she created the Henry Street Settlement in New York City and launched the visiting nurse service there, solidifying a model that integrates nursing with social reform and community-based health care. This approach established the blueprint for public health nursing as a distinct field. Mary Breckinridge did important work expanding rural health and midwifery through the Frontier Nursing Service, but that represents a specific rural initiative rather than the origin of public health nursing as a whole. Lavinia Dock and Mary Mahoney were influential nurses and reformers, but not the founders of public health nursing.