Bellevue Alumnae Center for Nursing History
Limited Edition Nursing Pins
Marion Sheahan Bailey - 1998
Marion Sheahan Bailey, respected for her practical approach and strong will, powerfully influenced the nursing profession and health care. A 1913 graduate of St. Peter’s Hospital School of Nursing in Albany, she began "the career of a lifetime" at the Henry St. Settlement. As Director of the NYS Department of Health’s Bureau of Public Health Nursing, she created a program that inspired public health workers across the country. She chaired the NYSNA Committee that developed the 1938 law requiring licensure "for all those who nurse for hire." In World War II, she chaired numerous national committees coordinating nursing’s efforts to meet military and civilian health care needs. For over fifty years, Ms. Bailey worked relentlessly to shape nursing’s response to societal changes, always stressing the centrality of the patient.
