Who are the Most Powerful Women?
Thank you Forbes for publishing this stunning list of powerful women leaders.
The most powerful women of 2016 were chosen by the same four metrics as with prior years:
- money
- media presence
- sphere of influence
- impact
See the top 5 most powerful women in the world below. The distinguished list is topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, number-one Power Woman for the last six years consecutive years.
What attributes do Powerful Women Possess ?
- smart
- tough
- innovative
- leaders
- investment savvy
- scientific
- generous
- top business executives and owners
What does it mean to be powerful ?
Power is often thought of as might. In the business world it may thought of as the power to hire and fire. Some might say that power is being strong enough to bend. According to Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, the first woman to become president in Mauritius, it is something else. “For me, power is the ability to influence. If you can influence in the long-term by leaving behind a legacy, to me, that’s real power.”
Nurses as powerful women
Florence Nightingale did not let us down here. Some of her accomplishments and influences:
- author
- nurse
- reformer
- chose a career path in as a nurse over the social and married life expected by her parents
- established the Nightingale Training School for nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital
- founded of the modern nursing profession as a trained profession.
- Head British nurse as superintendent of London’s Institution for the Care of Sick Gentlewomen
- volunteer nurse in Crimean War
- established more sanitary conditions during war time
- improved the mortality rate at the military hospital which fell from 60% at her arrival to 2% six months later
- become general superintendent of the Female Nursing Establishment of the Military Hospitals of the Army (March 16, 1856)
- helped to establish the Royal Commission on the Health of the Army in 1857
- involved — from London — in advising on sanitation in India
- founded the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses in London, England
- consulted with Elizabeth Blackwell on her plan for opening a Woman’s Medical College (it opened in 1868 and continued for 31 years)
- awarded the Order of Merit by the King in 1907, making Florence Nightingale the first woman to receive that honor
- declined the offer of a national funeral and of burial at Westminster Abbey, requesting that her grave be marked simply
According to About.com :
A history of the Western Sanitary Commission, written in 1864, begins with this credit to Florence Nightingale’s pioneering work:
THE first organized attempt to mitigate the horrors of war, to prevent disease and save the lives of those engaged in military service by sanitary measures and a more careful nursing of the sick and wounded, was made by a commission appointed by the British Government during the Crimean war, to inquire into the terrible mortality from disease that attended the British army at Sebastopol, and to apply the needed remedies. It was as a part of this great work that the heroic young Englishwoman, Florence Nightingale, with her army of nurses, went to the Crimea to care for the sick and wounded soldier, to minister in hospitals, and to alleviate suffering and pain, with a selfsacrifice and devotion that has made her name a household word, wherever the English language is spoken. In the armies of France the Sisters of Charity had rendered similar services, and even ministered to the wounded on the battle field; but their labors were a work of religious charity and not an organized sanitary movement.
Source: The Western Sanitary Commission: A Sketch. St. Louis: R. P. Studley and Co., 1864.
Virtues of a nurse – powerful women
- educated
- role models
- empathetic
- courageous
- generous
- altruistic
- patient
- kind
- nurturing
- leads
- mentors
- advocates
- teaches
- touches life, death, emotions and fears
- trustworthy
Nurses are powerful women (and men). How do you think they add up on the 4 merits used by Forbes?
- money – Nurses economize and do much with little despite budget cuts, lack of supplies or an accessible an doctor.
- media presence -Nurses are not concerned with the limelight, just the welfare of those in their care, and they get voted the #1 trusted professionals year after year.
- sphere of influence – Nurses touch many lives, cultures and generations through the care of one person.
- impact – Nurses advocate for what is right and just for their patients and do what it takes to do what their patient needs.
Powerful women, powerful nurses let’s move forward!
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