This is a list of famous nurses in history. To be listed here, the nurse must already have a Wiki biography article. For background information see History of nursing and Timeline of nursing history.
Lady Harriet Acland (1750-1815), British noblewoman
Saint Alda (died c. 1309), Italian Catholic saint
Moyra Allen (1921-1996), helped develop the McGill Model of Nursing
Allen Allensworth (1842-1914) famous African-American American Civil War soldier who started as a nurse
Sir Jonathan Asbridge was the first president of the UK's Nursing and Midwifery Council
Charles Atangana (1880-1943), paramount chief of the Ewondo and Bane in Cameroon
Martha Ballard (1735-1812), American frontier midwife, great-aunt of Clara Barton
Ann A. Bernatitus (1912-2003), one of the Angels of Bataan — USN nurses in the Philippines in WW2
Clara Barton (1821-1912), organized the American Red Cross
Christine Beasley CBE (1944-), Chiefing Nursing Officer for England
Claire Bertschinger Swiss-British nurse who inspired the Band Aid charity movement
Mary Ann Bickerdyke (1817-1901), nurse during the American Civil War known as "Mother Bickerdyke"
Florence Blake (1907-1983), American pediatric nursing professor and author
Florence A. Blanchfield (1884-1971), superintendent of the United States Army Nurse Corps
Cecilia Blomqvist (1845-1890), Finnish deaconess
Angela Boškin (1885-1977) first professionally trained Slovenian nurse and social worker in Yugoslavia
Jo Brand (born 1957), British nurse-turned-comedian
Elsa Brändström (1888-1948), Swedish World War I Red Cross nurse in Siberia
Mary Carson Breckinridge (1881-1965), founder of the Frontier Nursing Service
Vera Brittain (1893-1970), WWI nurse
Ellen Johanne Broe (1900-1994) Danish nurse and nursing educator
Anna Broms (1862-1890), first trained nurse in Finland
Viola Davis Brown (born 1936), first African-American to lead a state office of public health nursing in the United States
Abraão José Bueno (born 1977), Brazilian nurse and serial killer.
Vivian Bullwinkel (1915-2000), lone survivor of the Banka Island Massacre, celebrated by the Australian Service Nurses Memorial
Betsi Cadwaladr (1789-1860), Welsh nurse who worked alongside Florence Nightingale in the Crimea
Amanda Cajander, (1827-1871), pioneer in the education of deaconesses and nursing in Finland
Maude E. Callen (1898-1990), American 20th century nurse-midwife
Vice Admiral Richard Carmona (born 1949), Surgeon General of the United States
Dr Peter Carter OBE, British nurse and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing
Anne Casey, New Zealand-born pediatric British nurse who developed Casey's model of nursing
Edith Cavell (1865-1915), heroine of World War I
Maria Cederschiöld (deaconess) (1815-1892), pioneer in the education of deaconesses and nursing in Sweden
Luther Christman (1915-2011), first male dean of a U.S. nursing program; established the Rush model of nursing
Lady Diana Cooper, prominent social figure in London and Paris, widely acknowledged as the beauty of the century
Dame June Clark (born 1941), Professor at University of Swansea
Louise Conring (1824–1891), first trained nurse in Denmark, head of Copenhagen's Deaconess Institute
Cubah Cornwallis (d. 1848), Jamaican nurse and "doctoress" who treated Nelson and William IV when they were stationed in the West Indies.
Harriet Patience Dame (1815-1900), nurse during the American Civil War, served with the 2nd New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry.
Grace Ebun Delano (born 1935), pioneer of reproductive health services in Nigeria
Jane Delano (1862-1919), founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service
Maria de Villegas de Saint-Pierre (1870-1941) founded the Saint-Camille Nursing School and directed the Élisabeth Hospital in Poperinge during World War I
Marion Dewar (born 1928), mayor of Ottawa and a member of the Parliament
Dorothea Dix (1802-1887), superintendent of Army Nurses during the American Civil War
Mary Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Lymington (1921-2003), Lord Mayor of London
Sister Dora (1832-1878), British 19th century nurse
Ellen Dougherty (1844-1919), first Registered Nurse
Diane Duane (born 1952) American science fiction and fantasy author
Sarah Emma Edmundson (1841-1898), Canadian-American author who served with the Union Army in the American Civil War
Victoria Joyce Ely (1889-1979), Florida's first licensed midwife. Conducted training programs for midwives in the state
Queen Fabiola of Belgium (born 1928)
Saint Fabiola (died 399)
Helen Fairchild (1885-1918), World War I nurse
Florence Farmborough (1887-1978), British nurse who kept diaries of her service during World War I as a Red Cross nurse with the Imperial Russian army
Ethel Gordon Fenwick (1856-1947), British nurse who campaigned for a law limiting nursing to "registered" nurses only
Erna Flegel (born 1903), Adolf Hitler's nurse
Alma E. Foerster (1885-1967), American nurse who served in World War I, received the Florence Nightingale Medal (1920) and then worked in the United States Public Health Service
Nina Sage (1883–1946), American who ran school of nursing in China, president of International Council of Nurses 1925–1929
Genevieve de Galard, French nurse during the French war in Indochina
Abigail Hopper Gibbons (1801-1893), abolitionist activist during the American Civil War
Helen L. Gilson (1836-1868), American Civil War nurse
Marjory Gordon, nursing theorist and professor who created a nursing assessment theory known as Gordon's functional health patterns
Kate Gosselin, American television personality
Cornelia Hancock (1839-1926), American Civil War nurse
Lucille Hegamin (1894-1970), blues recording artist
Virginia Henderson (1897-1996), 'First Lady of Nursing", American nurse theorist
Bodil Hellfach (1856–1941), Danish nurse, deputy head of the Danish Nurses' Organization
Lenah Higbee (1874-1941), pioneering U.S. Navy nurse during World War I
Gerda Höjer (1893-1974), recipient of the Florence Nightingale Medal and President of the International Council of Nurses
Dame Agnes Hunt (1867-1948), British Orthopaedic Nursing pioneer
Alberta Hunter (1895-1984), jazz singer
Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Revolutionary War nurse. Mother of Andrew Jackson, 7th U.S. President
Calamity Jane (1852-1903), American frontierswoman and nurse
Victoria Jensen (1847–1930), deaconess, nursing supervisor, from 1914 head of Copenhagen's Deaconess Institute
Hazel Johnson-Brown (1927-2011), first African-American head of the United States Army Nurse Corps
Virginia Clinton Kelley (1923-1994), mother of United States President Bill Clinton
Dame Betty Kershaw, Professor at Sheffield
Eunice Muringo Kiereini, b.1939, Chief Nursing Officer of Kenya and first African president of the International Council of Nurses
Docia Kisseih, (1919-2008), initiated advances in nursing and nurse training in post-independence Ghana
Nancy J. Lescavage, Director of the Navy Nurse Corps
Daurene Lewis, first black woman mayor in North America.
Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882), volunteer nurse during the American Civil War
Kate Lorig, professor at Stanford University School of Medicine
Ljubica Luković, (1858-1915) established the first nurses' training course in Serbia and in 1925 was posthumously awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal
Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (1897-1965)
Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1946), first professionally trained African-American nurse
Jeanne Mance (1606-1673), French nurse, founder of Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal (1645).
Sophie Mannerheim (1863-1928), pioneer of modern nursing in Finland
Marie Manthey (born 1935), one of the originators of Primary Nursing
Louise de Marillac (1591-1660), founder of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul
Kate Marsden (1859-1931), British missionary nurse
Anna Maxwell (1851–1929), U.S. Army nurse whose activities were crucial to the growth of professional nursing in America
Carolyn McCarthy, American politician
Jean McFarlane, Baroness McFarlane of Llandaff
Louisa McLaughlin (1836-1921), one of the first British Red Cross nurses, served in two wars
Louise McManus, first nurse to earn a PhD Referred to as Louise McManus
Anne Milton (born 1955), British Member of Parliament
Jane Minor, aka Gensey Snow, 1792-1858, African-American healer, midwife, and slave emancipator
Naomi Mitchison (1897-1999), British novelist and poet
Jeannine Moquin-Perry, Canadian religious and political activist
Sarah Mullally (born 1962) British Chief Nursing Officer and priest
Charlotte Munck (1876–1932), Danish nurse, important figure in the training of nurses
Elizabeth Grace Neill (1846-1926), Kiwi nurse
Bonnie Nettles (1927-1985), co-leader of the Heaven's Gate religious cult
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), pioneer of modern nursing
Emily Elizabeth Parsons (1824-1880) American Civil War nurse, hospital administrator, and founder of Mt. Auburn Hospital
Emma Maria Pearson (1828–93), writer and one of the first British Red Cross nurses, served in two wars
Hildegard Peplau, first published nursing theorist since Florence Nightingale. She created the middle-range nursing theory of interpersonal relations
Anita Thigpen Perry, First Lady of Texas
Jill Pettis, New Zealand Member of Parliament
Lynne Pillay, New Zealand Member of Parliament
Kerry Prendergast, Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand
Tom Quinn, influential UK Professor of Cardiac nursing
Emmy Rappe (1835-1896), Swedish pioneer in the education of nurses
Kaye Lani Rae Rafko, Miss America 1988
Claire Rayner (born 1931), British journalist, agony aunt and activist
Linda Richards (1841-1930), America's first professionally trained nurse
Isabel Hampton Robb, helped develop early programs of nursing education
Rachel Robinson (born 1922), wife of baseball star Jackie Robinson
Debbie Rowe (born 1958), wife of singer Michael Jackson
Elaine Roe, U.S. Army nurse, one of the first four women to be awarded the Silver Star
Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), founder of the U.S. birth control movement.
Lynda Scott, New Zealand MP.
Mary Seacole (1805-1881), Jamaican British nurse in the Crimean War known as "the Black Florence Nightingale".
Schwester Selma (1884-1984), German-Jewish head nurse in Jerusalem, known as "the Jewish Florence Nightingale".
Nigar Shikhlinskaya (1871-1931), first Azerbaijani nurse.
Kapelwa Sikota (1928 – 2006), first Zambian registered nurse.
Kathleen Simon, Viscountess Simon (1864-1955), British abolitionist.
Jessie Sleet Scales (1865-1956), first black public health nurse in the United States.
Mabel Keaton Staupers (1890-1989), advocate for racial equality in the nursing profession during era of American segregation.
Margaretta Styles (1930-2005), American advocate for standardization of nursing credentials, University of California, San Francisco Nursing School dean, past president of the American Nurses Association and International Council of Nurses.
Adah Belle Samuels Thoms (1870-1943), pioneering African-American rights activist, who fought for African-American nurses to be permitted to serve in the U.S. armed forces.
Violetta Thurstan (1879-1978), nurse in WWI, decorated for bravery.
Sally Louisa Tompkins (1833-1916), humanitarian and philanthropist during the American Civil War.
Harriet Tubman (c. 1822-1913), African-American abolitionist.
Florence Wald (1917-2008), founder of the hospice movement in the U.S.
Lillian Wald (1867-1940), founder of visiting nursing in the U.S.
Jean Watson, an American nurse theorist and nursing professor, best known for her Theory of Human Caring.
Faye Wattleton (born 1943), president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Walt Whitman (1819-1892), American poet, American Civil War nurse.
Sarah Palmer Young (1830-1908), American Civil War nurse, author of a memoir.
Tome Yoshida (1876-1963), pioneer of modern Eastern University hospital nursing education.
Sophie Zahrtmann (1841–1925), deaconess, nurse, head of Copenhagen's Deaconess Institute
List of nurses Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA