May 11, 2018 Hello ,
Thank you to all those who responded to my ask last week! I was over-whelmed by the
outpouring of support!
So many of you wrote to tell me you asked your local library to carry Fannie Never Flinched, and others to say your library already has the book. Thank you from the bottom of my
heart. Your generosity buoyed me all week! National Hug Your Favorite Nurse Week That's just what I'm calling National Nurses Week. If you haven't noticed, it runs May
6th-12th every year. Nurses often share our greatest joys and our deepest sorrows. They care for us in our most vulnerable moments.
The tenderness of the labor and delivery nurse was extraordinary
when my third baby was born.
She stood by through the pain and cleaned up everything after. It could have been a process of brisk efficiency. Nurses have lots of patients and many routine chores in a short amount of time.
But this nurse washed me as gently as if I were the newborn. She made me feel valued as a human being in the most profound way. For most nurses, it's not just a job, it's a vocation.
Did you know - Americans consistently rate nursing as
the most honest, ethical and trustworthy profession?
- Nurses in the US report more than 35,000 back injuries each year?
- By 2024 the shortage of RNs in the US will top 1
million?
Compassion, Courage & Perseverance Mary Eliza Mahoney became the first African American professional licensed nurse. Her fortitude in pursuit of a dream will astound you.
It's unknown when or how Mary's enslaved
parents gained their freedom and left North Carolina, but she was born in the free state of Massachusetts in 1845, the oldest of their three children.
Mary decided to be a nurse when she was a teenager and got a job at the New England Hospital for Women and Children. She toiled long and arduous years for her nursing cap.
At the hospital she worked as a
janitor, cook, washer woman and nurses aide for 15 years before she was able to enter the hospital's graduate school for nursing.
Her motto was simple: Work more and better the coming year than the previous year.
At age 33, Mary entered the 16-month program, one of 42 nursing students. They went to classes during
the day and also worked on the hospital wards or caring for private patients. Mary was one of only four students to complete the demanding requirements and graduate in 1879. Mary's diploma and nurses license assured hospitals she was qualified, but people's prejudice carried more clout.
Discrimination against blacks
limited her job opportunities in public nursing, so she decided to work as a private duty nurse. She earned a reputation for efficiency, patience and a caring bedside manner.
Mary encouraged African-American women to train as nurses and campaigned for racial equality in the profession. She helped form the National
Association of Colored Graduate Nurses. In addition, Mary supported of Women's Suffrage and was one of the first women to register to vote in 1920.
Mary Eliza Mahoney was a woman of compassion, perseverance and courage, a pioneer in the field of nursing. Like many nurses today, she connected her individual work as a care-giver with
action for justice and well-being in the wider community. Cinnabon offers nurses a free treat to celebrate National Nurses Week. Through Saturday, May 12, nurses get one free Cinnabon Classic Roll, MiniBon Roll or a four-count BonBites when they show their badge at participating
locations.
Let me know if you'd like me to send them an autographed copy!
Big news from my desk this week! I have officially finished a draft of the YA
Novel I've been working on for a few years.
Warning, the wolf dies at the end, but even so, it was worth the read. I so enjoyed the up-close look at the lives of wolves in Yellowstone.
From
the publisher:
With novelistic detail, Nate Blakeslee tells the gripping story of one of these wolves, O-Six, a charismatic alpha female named for the year of her birth. Uncommonly powerful, with gray fur and faint black ovals around each eye, O-Six is a kind and merciful leader, a fiercely intelligent fighter, and a doting mother.
But as she raises her pups and protects her pack, O-Six is challenged on all fronts: by hunters, who compete with wolves for the elk they both prize; by cattle ranchers who are losing livestock and have the ear of politicians; and by other Yellowstone wolves who are vying for control of the park’s stunningly beautiful Lamar Valley. Until next week... Have you read a great book? Tell me about it. Have a burning question? Let me know. If you know someone who might enjoy
my newsletter or books, please forward this e-mail. I will never spam you or sell your email address, you can unsubscribe below anytime with a single mouse click. To find out more about my books, how I help students, teacher and librarians, visit my website at www.MaryCronkFarrell.com. My best, Mary
Questions? Comments? Contact me at MaryCronkFarrell@gmail.com. Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. |
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