IN MEMORIUM
October 31, 1947 — December 17, 2022
October 31, 1947 — December 17, 2022
LOUISE SELANDERS, EdD, RN, FAAN
Founding Board of Directors, NIGH USA
Dr. Louise Selanders, courtesy of her family
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Dr. Louise Selanders was an internationally-recognized and award-winning nurse historian who passionately believed that the history of nursing offers answers to current and future issues of nursing education, practice and research. She sought to accurately identify Nightingale's key contributions to the areas of nursing theory, leadership and to a philosophical development of the profession.
Dr. Selanders co-authored the award winning volume titled 'Florence Nightingale Today: Healing, Leadership, Global Action' (2005) which details how the solutions identified and implemented by Nightingale, in her time, can be effective in resolving current issues such as global health, managed care and the nursing shortage. This volume was selected as the 2005 ‘American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year.’ Dr. Selanders has been a full professor at the College of Nursing at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, where she was the Director of the Master's Program. She was an honoured Fellow of the American Academy of Nurses.
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Also serving as Professor Emerita, Dr. Selanders collaborated with MSU by offering a challenging annual study abroad program to students and faculty each summer in London, UK and identifying the origins of modern nursing — comparing and contrasting the current status of nursing in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Keen to discover many ways to appreciate Florence Nightingale's legacy for today's world, Dr. Selanders served on the original team of Florence Nightingale scholars who developed the outreach of the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) since their early visions in 1999. This story is further illustrated in How & Why NIGH Began >>> and in the feature article “Creating the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health: Theoretical reflections to follow in Florence Nightingale's footsteps” -- in English, Spanish and Portuguese and available in full to download here >>>
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This work built upon her participation to co-host three Services honouring Florence Nightingale, Nurses and Nursing at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, in 2001, 2004 and at the Service celebrating the 2010 International Year of the Nurse / Florence Nightingale Centennial >>> Her original contributions were appreciated during her own Keynote address at Nightingale's Inaugural Service in 2001.
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National Cathedral Celebration of Nurses & Nightingale. Image from Jim Hawkins, with permission.
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In the 2004 image above, Dr. Selanders is pictured with the Reverend Canon Michael Wright as he began their Candle Ceremony by passing her the “Light of Knowledge’. Also pictured, from left to right: USAF Maj. Cynthia Jones Weidman, a Florence Nightingale Medal Award Winner; a student leader from the National Student Nurses' Association and Dr. Daniel Pesut, then President of STTI. Others in the line are national leaders and student nursing leaders from across the United States.
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She also actively participated in developing NIGH’s Co-Sponsored 'Interfaith Celebration of Maternal Health ' at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York City on October 21, 2012. With Dr. Selanders' active encouragement, this event launched NIGH's three-year campaign called 'Daring, Caring & Sharing to Save Mothers' Lives' >>> — via global online outreach — receiving 3.5 million hits from more than 90,000 unique visitors from 146 nations.
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Starting in the mid-1990s, Dr. Selanders also joined Dr. Barbara Dossey and a team of researchers & Episcopal church leaders to determine the significance of Nightingale’s life and work as inspiration for the official Episcopal Church Calendar. At the 1997 Convention of the Episcopal Church of the United States, Nightingale was hence placed on the Church Ballot and entered, in 2000, into the 'Church Calendar of Lesser Feasts & Fasts,' to be 'celebrated,' annually, on August 12th. See Shaping A Vision >>> / Slide 5.
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Here is Dr. Selanders' Memorial Service on January 3, 2023 >>>
Noteworthy: Minutes 34:16 to 48:45 — Eulogy to Dr. Selanders by Dr. Patrick Crane >>> Minutes 49:10 to 56:24 — Connections between Dr. Selanders and Florence Nightingale by Reverend Melissa Congleton >>> |