Mary Elizabeth Carnegie

Mary Elizabeth Carnegie

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Mary Elizabeth Carnegie

Introduction

Mary Elizabeth Carnegie was a very influential author and educator in regards to the field of nursing. Carnegie was the first ever African American to serve on the board of a state nursing society; Florida State Nurses Association. She was someone who combined day and night to break down racial hurdles for the people of color. Carnegie’s achievements are outstanding and to this day are counted as the pioneering blocks to establish the African American Community in the world of medicine (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). Carnegie was born on the 19th of April 1916 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. In her entire life, she was married once, Carnegie lost her husband in 1954. After living an incredible life dedicated to the world of medicine, Carnegie passed away in 2008 in her house in Chevy Chase, Maryland because of developing hypertensive cardiovascular disease. This paper will be discussing the life and achievements of Mary Elizabeth Carnegie and her contributions to the nursing metaparadigm concepts; patient or person component, health component, environmental components, and nursing component.

The Life and Achievements of Mary Elizabeth Carnegie

Mary Elizabeth Carnegie followed higher education with great dedication and passion. Her determination helped her earn a diploma from the Lincoln School of Nurses. After getting the diploma, Carnegie successfully got a bachelor's degree from West Virginia State College (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). Later, she opted for a master’s degree from Syracuse University and achieved what she aimed for by getting the degree. Lastly, Carnegie got a doctor of public administration degree from New York University. Carnegie made groundbreaking contributions to nursing, education and the establishment of African American community in the world of nursing. She laid the foundation for people of color so they could confidently join the field of nursing and further gave recognition to the contributions of African American people in nursing. Carnegie also served as a mentor figure for many generations of African American nurses. She was so well aware of her community that she never failed to mention an African American contribution in every single era of history (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). Name an era and Carnegie would pinpoint how the African American nurses were contributing at that time. In Carnegie’s entire life she never skipped participating in AAHN, she attended the last AAHN conference in 2007, a year before her passing.

During the time when African American nurses were referred to only as Nurse, not any other title or Miss, Dr. Carnegie asserted that her honorable title should be used. When she was traveling to Florida for the state nursing meetings while being the dean, she declined to travel in cargo elevators (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). Carnegie was greeted to the board of the Florida Nurses Association, she was the very first African American nurse to be given the invitation. Amid the meeting when Carnegie was told that she cannot make a vote, she declined the position until 1949, when finally she was given the right to vote. Carnegie claims that up until then the African Americans were only allowed to attend maybe one or two meetings, they were not yet given the right to vote. She said that in her obituary, that voting is what I was fighting for from the start.

Carnegie started the baccalaureate nursing program at Hampton University. The archives in that university are still named after her. In 1976 she was initiated in the American Academy of Nursing. Carnegie was made the president of the group after two years of initiation and she served to that position till 1979. The Academy of nursing gave Carnegie the tile of the Living Legend of the Academy in 1994. This is the highest rank that the academy has given to anyone to this date. From 1988 to 1999 Carnegie served as the Chair of the American Nurses’ Association's Minority Fellowship Program Advisory Committee. She also served as the professor and dean of the school of nursing at Florida A&M University within the time span -1945-1953. Later, she also served as the senior editor of Nursing Outlook and became the first editor of Nursing Research. Her work as a writer includes being the author of three editions of The Path We Tread: Blacks in Nursing Worldwide. These books published in the timeframe of 1854-1994 (Nelson, 2017). Carnegie's achievements also include being the author for a massive 85 articles, which were also inclusive of editorials in around 30 chapters, journals and forwards to twenty books. Since 1943, she also delivered a whopping 400 speeches and motivated people through her words.

She took retirement in 1978, and amid that period Dr. Carnegie contributed as an independent consultant. Other than that, she also worked as a visiting professor in many universities; University of North Carolina, Hampton University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Massachusetts, Indiana University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Michigan. Carnegie also grabbed brilliant chairs at Memphis State University in Tennessee and Adelphi University in New York.

Amongst the numerous awards Carnegie received are the Agnes Dillon Randolph Award which she received from Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry at the University of Virginia, the President’s Award from Sigma Theta Tau International, the Living Legend Award from the Association of Black Nursing Faculty in Higher Education and the George Arents Pioneer Medal from Syracuse University (Nelson, 2017). In 2000, Carnegie was inaugurated in the American Nurses Hall of Fame, and she got honorary doctorates from around eight universities and colleges.

Nursing Metaparadigm Concepts

Environment Factor

When it comes to the environmental components, it is associated with the surrounding in which a patient is. It consists of both the internal as well as the external factors that can have an influence on the patient. Carnegie worked really hard to create a good environment for African American patients as well as the nursing staff. She knew that her community had great potential and were capable of giving a great environment and ambiance for an inpatient to heal. Further, being culturally, socially and economically aware really creates a great impact on the overall environment additionally making a positive impact on the health of the patient (Deliktas, Korukcu, Aydin & Kabukcuoglu, 2019). In a time when Blacks were not given respect, Carnegie created an environment where they were given healthcare with dignity like everyone else.

Health Factor

The health component sterns on the fact that the kind of healthcare that a patient is getting can have an influence on their genetic makeup and life span. Certain physical, spiritual and social attributes need to be inculcated in a patient's healthcare routine so they can get the maximum benefits, Carnegie made sure that the African American staff and even the other staff is well educated and aware in regards to enhancing the patient's wellbeing ((Deliktas, Korukcu, Aydin & Kabukcuoglu, 2019). All her life her main motto was to improve the healthcare field.

Nursing Factor

This factor is all about giving the patient the maximum and optimal healthcare under a good and stable environment. It should be based on mutual understanding of the healthcare provider and healthcare seeker. The main idea is to maintain a professional yet safe and caring environment. Carnegie devoted all her life to teaching the skills, knowledge, and professionalism that is needed to give the optimum healthcare. She has talked about this in many of her articles and books ((Deliktas, Korukcu, Aydin & Kabukcuoglu, 2019). Carnegie sterns on the fact that the nurse should be caring yet professional, he/she should know what will help heal the patient both mentally as well as physically.

Patient or Person Factor

Now comes the person factor, it is dependent on the receiver of the healthcare and also the family members of the receiver. All the factors; environment, health, and nursing are to heal the patient. Carnegie believed that everything at the end of the day depends on the person who is receiving healthcare and how they respond to it ((Deliktas, Korukcu, Aydin & Kabukcuoglu, 2019). Healthcare should be sustained or altered in regards to physical needs, mental needs and results formed via the treatment given to the patient.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, Carnegie contributed and dedicated her whole life to the world of nursing. In her journey of making healthcare better, she also paved the way for her community. She did not just create an example with her determination but also mentored the African American community in regards to nursing. Carnegie aided in breaking the racial boundaries that were created for the people of color and proved her worth to the field during the process. The achievements that Carnegie made over the course of time transcend race (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). Her contributions to the field are not just restricted to the African American community but the whole world of nursing and healthcare. Carnegie did not raise a voice for her people to prove a point, she just wanted the world to see how talented the African American people are and how they can make a positive difference in the world of nursing. The idea was that caring for humanity is not just restricted to the whites, the blacks equally want to contribute to make the world a better place. All Carnegie wanted was an equal platform for both the ethnicities so together they can further enhance the world of nursing. Her achievements can be seen to this day when both the ethnicities work together on equal grounds.

References

Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Nelson, K. M. (2017). African-American Academic Nurse Leader's Role in Persistence of African-American Baccalaureate Nursing Students (Doctoral dissertation, University of Phoenix).

Deliktas, A., Korukcu, O., Aydin, R., & Kabukcuoglu, K. (2019). Nursing Students' Perceptions of Nursing Metaparadigms: A Phenomenological Study. The journal of nursing research: JNR.