Dear Howard University Nursing Staff, Faculty, Students and Alumni,

To all of the nursing professionals in our lives: Thank you for following your purpose to take care of us all. Your strength for and commitment to our community shall be praised during Nurses’ Week and thereafter.

My first introduction to nurses was through the care and attention of my mother. As a child growing up with Sickle Cell Anemia, I was hospitalized frequently and it was not unusual for her to have her assignments changed to facilitate keeping a watchful eye over me. She administered care to many in and around our community. She took me along often and would always remark at my lack of apprehension. By then, I had determined that I wanted to provide care and healing much as she had always done. She worked as a nurse for 51 years!

I’ve had the privilege to work alongside many of you as a surgeon aiding to the needs of our community, within Washington, D.C. and beyond. Without the support and care of nurses, our patients would have failed to fully recover. It is the extra steps you take throughout patient care that makes the healing process easier. I appreciate this journey I’ve had in serving the community with selfless and determined people like you.

In honoring our present, we must recognize our past leading us to this point. 

Two years before the establishment of Howard University, Mary Eliza Mahoney became the first black registered nurse. She set the path for the inclusion of black nurses, more than 15 years after the mother of nursing Florence Nightingale became the creator of the field. In 1973, the first class of nurses graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSN) degree. The 2018-2019 academic year marked the 50^th anniversary of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program’s inception in 1968. Alumni, including Board of Visitors member and former professor Bernadine Lacey attended the inaugural white coat ceremony for our new nurses entering the Fall 2019 semester. 

According to the late Anna B. Coles, RN, Ph.D., the founding dean of Howard University School of Nursing, on February 23, 1955, the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare appointed a 10-member Freedmen’s Hospital Study Commission to consider the future role of the hospital as a medical training and research center, a teaching facility for Howard University College of Medicine, and as a service to the Washington community. 

The report resulted in the development of a baccalaureate program in nursing at Howard University and it was recommended that a collegiate school of nursing be established.

On April 23, 1968, the Howard University Board of Trustees approved the establishment of a baccalaureate program in nursing and a dean was appointed. The School of Nursing (the title of the college at that time) would function as an autonomous constituent of Howard University functioning within the philosophy of the University and responsible for promoting its purposes.

According to a survey conducted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and The Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers, 19.2 percent of registered nurses are from minority backgrounds and 6.2 percent are African American. We are accomplishing our goal of fulfilling the need for diversity, while producing graduates who are excellent practitioners within their field of influence.

Since 1973, Howard University has graduated 2,143 nurses of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, ready to enter the field. Last year, our graduates had a 95 percent test pass rate on the NCLEX, which is higher than the national average of 92.7 percent. Howard continues to do its part of healing the nation.

Recently, the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences (CNAHS) has shown its tremendous efforts serving the community. Dean Gina Brown, Ph.D., MSA, RN, has led faculty staff and students for nearly five years and has elevated the importance of Howard’s impact in the role of diversifying the field.

The Interim Chair of Nursing, Devora Winkfield, Ph.D., RN, FNP-BC, who has served for the past two years, and Dean Brown recently submitted a grant proposal for HRSA Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students to expand upon the education for the disadvantage interest in the field of nursing. Associate Professor Dr. Enwerem is leading on behalf of University in a collaborative effort with the D.C. Primary Care Association and Children’s National Medical Center along with 20 network partners to apply for funding from the Department of Health and Human Services to develop innovative approaches for expectant and parenting teens. The Project is titled: DC Network for EXpectant and parenting Teens (DC-NEXT).

Due to the pandemic, a new tele-health pilot initiative was born with Clinical Instructor of Maternity and Family Health, Mary Shahady. In collaboration with Global Health Access Institute (GHA), maternity health students received tele-health training and were able to provide supervised services to new maternity patients from Howard University Hospital.

Additionally, our nursing students are more than caregivers. They are advocates for change. During the 2020 National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) Annual Capitol Hill Day, 29 Howard nursing students were present, identifying more ways to serve their communities through legislation.

Although it may be a week or a month of recognition for the nurses in our lives, remember that they have been a part of your entire life. From the moment you were born, to the day you leave this Earth, nurses will forever be the ones to always on your side. May we thank them for their everlasting impression on us every day.

To the 2020 graduates embarking on a journey of a lifetime, we are here for you and proud of you. Thank you for stepping up to serve.

Excellence in Truth and Service,

Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA
Howard University President