Dq

Thoughts

Congress woman Eddie Bernice Johnson was the first registered nurse elected into Congress. “She is an American politician in the state of Texas. She grew up in Waco, TX and was interested in medicine for a while, but due to being African American she could not go to college in Texas during that time. She received a nursing diploma in 1956 at the University of Notre Dame. When she returned to TX she attended TCU and earned her BSN, then in 1976 she obtained a Master degree in public administration from SMU. Congresswoman Johnson is one of the most famous nurses in history due to her many accomplishments.”(Nursing Theory, 2019) She holds a special place in my heart as she worked as a psychiatric nurse for a good portion of her nursing career. In Dallas she was the Chief psychiatric nurse and psychotherapist at the VA hospital. Throughout her career she has be a strong driving force for health care, education, racial equality, and economic development. Most recently Mrs. Johnson has introduced the National Nurse Act of 2019. “The key responsibilities of this is; Serve as a visible national spokesperson for engaging nurses in leadership, policy, and prevention. Encourage health professionals to work with community programs to improve health. Increase public safety and emergency preparedness, and to prepare and submit biennial report to Congress on nurses serving in the U.S. Public Health service.”(ebjohnson.house.gov, 2019). Also in 2019 Congresswoman John introduced to legislation to protect the health care benefits of federal employees during the government shut down. “Eddie Johnson believes that nurses have the education and knowledge to be very effective in the political arena. She encourages other nurses to share their strengths with the U.S. to help make improvements for everyone.” (Nursing theory, 2019).