Penn Nursing leaders urge profession to claim fuller role in U.S. history

Two University of Pennsylvania nursing leaders are using the United States’ 250th anniversary to press nurses to assert a larger public role. In commentaries published in the July 2026 issue of the American Journal of Nursing, they argue that overlooked nursing history should inform current fights over social justice, professional recognition and health equity.

The pieces were written by Antonia M. Villarruel, dean of Penn Nursing, and J. Margo Brooks Carthon, director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, according to the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Both commentaries focus on “Nursing the Revolution,” a photo essay and exhibit now on display at the Bates Center.

According to Penn Nursing, the exhibit highlights 18th-century caregivers whose work has often been left out of accounts of the American Revolution. Those caregivers included Indigenous women, enslaved women and freeborn women who helped sustain soldiers and civilians during wartime public health crises.

A call tied to the 250th anniversary

Villarruel’s commentary, “American Nursing: 250 Years and Counting,” links that history to the role nurses play in present-day health systems. Penn Nursing said Villarruel argues that nurses must continue to change care across global health systems while protecting stories of ethical leadership that can be lost during periods of social tension.

Villarruel also draws on her immigrant background and the nursing profession’s ethical code to argue that health care workers cannot remain detached from public struggles over dignity and equity, according to Penn Nursing. Her commentary calls on nurses to confront structural inequities affecting public health, protect human dignity and make nursing’s contributions more visible through scholarship, practice and public voice.

“As we mark our nation’s 250th year, we must do more than look back; we must bring the untold stories of our past caregivers to light to guide our path forward,” Villarruel said, according to Penn Nursing. “Today’s challenges remind us that nursing has never been a neutral profession—it is a calling of continuous innovation, courageous advocacy and an unwavering commitment to social justice.”

How omissions affect today’s workforce

Brooks Carthon’s companion commentary, “Nursing the Revolution,” examines how nurses have been left out of common accounts of early American history. According to Penn Nursing, she writes that historical narratives have often centered generals, battles and physicians while paying less attention to the intellectual and physical labor of caregivers.

Brooks Carthon argues that nursing in the United States predates the 19th-century Florence Nightingale era commonly associated with the profession’s origins. In her view, Penn Nursing said, early American nursing was tied to war, community survival and public need during the country’s formation.

According to Penn Nursing, Brooks Carthon warns that leaving diverse 18th-century caregivers out of the record can reduce skilled labor to instinct or sentimental myth. She also connects that omission to present-day consequences, including how nursing work is valued, respected and paid.

Both commentaries frame historical recovery as more than commemoration. As the country marks its semiquincentennial, the Penn Nursing leaders argue that recognizing early caregivers can help nurses define their professional value and influence the future of health care.

This story draws on original reporting from Medical Xpress.