D.I.N.E.

Overview

The purpose of the Diversity in Nursing Education (D.I.N.E.) Taskforce is to provide educational opportunities and discussions related to DEI in nursing. The Taskforce brings awareness to current issues and finds ways to address and encourage personal and collective growth.

Spring 2024 Featured Hidden Figure

This initiative uncovers overlooked contributions of diverse nurses in health care history. Through research and education, it highlights the achievements of nurses from minority backgrounds, promoting diversity and inclusion in nursing. By showcasing hidden figures and contemporary role models, DINE aims to inspire future generations to embrace diversity and make their mark in health care.

Virginia Allen, TCU Hidden Figure

Virginia Allen (1931-Present)

Known as “The Last Living Black Angel,” Allen was a nurse at Sea View Hospital in New York City, the largest tuberculosis sanitarium globally, and the site where a lung specialist led the development of isoniazid, a cure for tuberculosis.

Allen was one of 300 nurses known as the “Black Angels” who cared for quarantined tuberculosis patients from 1928–1960.
In 1957, Allen left the Sea View Hospital to work for what is now part of the Service Employees International Union.
Allen was a charter member and President of the North Shore Staten Island section of the National Council of Negro Women.

Allen continues to volunteer with Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority and is active in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the New York Urban League and Sandy Ground Historical Society.

Past Hidden Figures

Mary Seacole

She was a nurse in Jamaica, Panama and the United Kingdom (UK) who:

Diagnosed and treated patients during 1850 cholera outbreak
Nursed injured soldiers during the Crimean War, after being denied an official position with the army
Paved the way for diversity in nursing in the UK by illustrating race was not a factor when it came to patient care

Seacole is honored with a statue outside of St. Thomas Hospital in London standing two stories tall. Hers is the first statue in the UK to honor a Black woman.

Known as the "watchdog for the health care of Indians," she advocated for:

Women's reproductive rights and autonomy
Improved access to culturally competent care
Basic public health needs such as clean water and sewage disposal

Yellowtail received many awards recognizing her contributions as a nurse. She was presented the President's Award for Outstanding Nursing Health Care and was honored as the "Grandmother of American Indian Nurses" by the American Indian Nurses Association. She was also inducted into the Montana Hall of Fame and became the first Native American inductee of the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame.

(Top Row-Middle) Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail

D.I.N.E. Book Club

This initiative is an opportunity for faculty and staff of TCU Nursing to understand someone else’s lived experience through literature by discussing that experience with others who may or may not have similar experiences.

The next meeting is April 30 | 3:30 p.m. | Bass 1010