Barbara Thoman Curtis

Barbara Thoman Curtis (October 17, 1938 – October 18, 2015) was an American nurse and activist. She was a recipient of several awards and honors, including induction into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 2014.

Early life and education

Curtis was born on October 17, 1938 in Chicago. She was the daughter of John Thoman and Sue Thoman (nee Tasula), and was raised in Independence, Missouri.[1] She was of Greek ancestry.[2] Curtis later moved to various places including Spokane, Washington, Wheaton, Illinois and Bethesda, Maryland throughout her life. She was educated at William Chrisman High School, and graduated in 1956.[1] Curtis wanted to become an attorney, but at the time, there was a lack of women attorneys, and her parents wanted to place support for her mother who went to medical school. She also became involved in political activism.[3] She went to the Independence Sanitarium and Hospital School of Nursing (now called Graceland University) where she became a registered nurse.[1] While at the school, Curtis served as their President of the Missouri State Student Nurses Association.[4]

Career

After she graduated, she relocated to Washington state where she taught two diploma nursing programs, and became the President of the Washington State Nurses Association in 1970, and was the first nurse and the youngest person to hold the position. Curtis was influential in the development of the first political action committee for nurses in the state of Washington, the Politically United Nurses for Consumer Health (now called WSNA-PAC) two years later.[5] She later stated that it was the best achievement of her career.[3] Curtis worked at Spokane's St. Luke's Hospital as an emergency room nurse.[6] She was invited by the American Nurses Association (ANA) to lead the establishment of the organization's first political action committee in 1973.[5] The committee, the Nurses Coalition for Action in Politics (N-CAP), was established the following year, and Curtis was its first elected chairperson.[4] She assisted in helping over 20 states establish their own political action committees, and served as a lobbyist as well as consultant and volunteer in several political races at the local and state level.[5]

Curtis returned to Illinois in 1976, and became active in her local community and the state nurses association. She was an early pioneer for Nurse Lobby Days which started after a meeting with four of her fellow colleagues with Illinois' chief lobbyist was held.[5] After publicly voicing an issue concerning the state of Illinois' welfare system, she was arrested in 1983, but the charges were dropped following the end of that year's local elections.[2] Curtis moved back to Missouri in 1988 where she served on Congressman Alan Wheat's Advisory Committee on Health Care, she was elected as a precinct committee person, represented at the state party convection, and was selected as an alternate delegate to the National Democratic convention. Curtis, along with her daughter, participated in a sponsored event which saw her drive an old ambulance in a caravan from North Carolina to Washington D.C. on a health care reform rally that occurred across the United States.[5]

The ANA chose her as one of two people to spend three months in Washington D.C. as a White House liaison on health care legislation. Curtis was its chief coordinator and was a member of the White House's advance team for a health care rally.[5] In retirement, she was co-pastor of the Community of Christ congregation in Ormond Beach, Florida and held services at her residence.[6]

Personal

She was married to Richard Curtis; they had three children. She died October 18, 2015 at her home in Ormond Beach.[1][6][7]

Legacy

Curtis has received several honors and awards towards her work in nursing and healthcare. She was awarded the Honorary Recognition Award by the Washington State Nurses Association in 1974. Ten years later, in her honor, the American Nurses Foundation awarded her the first Barbara Curtis Scholarship.[5] The ANA founded the Barbara Curtis Scholarship in 1992, of which she was its first recipient two years later. It is awarded to a nurse who made a significiant contribution to nursing practice and health policy through legisative and political activity. She was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 2014.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Barbara Thoman Curtis". The Examiner. October 31, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Keefe, Sandy (August 1, 2005). "Nursing's Political Advocate". Advance. 7 (17): 10. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Barbara Thoman Curtis: The quintessential nurse activist and change agent". The American Nurse (September/October 2015): 13. Retrieved September 5, 2016 – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete.
  4. 1 2 3 "Barbara Thoman Curtis, RN (1938–2015) 2014 Inductee". American Nurses Association. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Barbara Thoman Curtis". Washington State Nurses Association. 2002. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "In Memoriam – Barbara Curtis". The Washington Nurse. 45 (4): 28–29. Winter 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  7. ↑ Zimmer, Ruth (April 18, 1968). "Greek Food a Palate Adventure". Indepedence Examiner. Retrieved September 15, 2016 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.