COURSE:Â NURSING 4130
PAPER: NURSING LEADERSHIP
Estelle Massey Osbourne
Leadership in nursing is critical to the progression of the field. Leaders empower, influence, motivate future nurses but most importantly they create change. Estelle Massey Osbourne is a nursing leader I truly admire for many reasons, I will be discussing her path that lead her to become such an influential leader, and the leadership qualities she possessed.
Osbourne was born in Palestine, Texas in 1901 while growing up she was faced with racism and poverty during those times there weren’t many black doctors, but nursing was a profession that provide entry into the middle class for women. At first Massey wanted to become a dentist and follow the path of her older brother, however dental school was very expensive and her brother encourage her to pursue nursing describing it as a more “suitable” job for women. Osbourne later enrolled in nursing school at a racially segregated hospital named “Homer G. Phillips Hospital” in Missouri. She later graduate and scored a 93.3% on her nursing exam. She later became the head nurse of a large unit, and became the first black administrator of the hospital. Osbourne continue to excel in the nursing profession enrolling in Columbia University in 1927 and earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing education and she didn’t stop there she continued with the support of a scholarship from the Julius Rosenwald fund, she obtained her master’s degree in Nursing Education being the first African American to ever earn a master degree in Nursing. Many aren’t aware of how significant her accomplishment was being the first African American to earn a master’s degree in nursing, during those times white-run southern nursing schools denied black students entry and salaries for black nurses were significant lower than those for whites, and through all the barriers present in front of her she broke through them all. As a black pioneer in the nursing field she was able to see the profession grow and racial barriers improve in the late 1940s opportunities for black nurses improved significantly. In 1949 364 nursing schools in the U.S. had a nondiscrimination policy, in comparison to 1941 where only 29 did.
Osbourne was honored by New York University and inducted in the hall of fame for nurses. All in all, Estelle Massey Osbourne was truly an inspiration for me not just for the barrier she broke for people like myself but her work on the floor as a nurse. She is the definition of a leader, she didn’t let racism or doubt block her way in pursuing and continuing education in the nursing field, she rose and exceled and that’s something that I want to add to my own leadership attributes as I grow as a nurse to be prepared to face obstacles in my career and most of all continue down the path she started and continuing my education to reach the highest level.
REFERENCE:
Davidson, K.  (2013, May 31). Osborne, Estelle Massey Riddle. Oxford African American Studies Center. Retrieved 4 Mar. 2020, from https://oxfordaasc.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-35120.
