Florence Wald

Florence Wald (April 19, 1917 – November 8, 2008) was an American nurse, former Dean of Yale School of Nursing, and largely credited as "the mother of the American hospice movement". She led the founding of Connecticut Hospice, the first hospice program in the United States. Late in life, Wald became interested in the provision of hospice care within prisons. In 1998, Wald was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Biography Early life Wald was born as Florence Sophie Schorske in New York City on April 19, 1917. Due to a chronic respiratory ailment, she spent several months as a child in a hospital. This hospitalization experience led her to pursue a career in nursing. Wald received a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1938 and an M.N. from Yale School of Nursing in 1941.

After World War II, she became a staff nurse with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, a research assistant at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and was an instructor at the Rutgers University school of nursing. She received a second master's degree from Yale University in mental health nursing in 1956 and became an instructor at the school's nursing program. She became Dean of Yale School of Nursing in 1959, after being named to the position on an acting basis the previous year. A short time later, she reconnected with Henry Wald, whom she met initially while she was conducting a study with the United States Army Signal Corps. The couple married later that year. Initially the program provided home care, and had its first inpatient location in 1980, a 44-bed facility in Branford. Disagreements had been brewing within the board about her vision for the hospice program, and she was forced to resign shortly after its opening. She was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1996 from Yale University, Wald was introduced as "the mother of the American hospice movement".

Florence Wald died at age 91 on November 8, 2008, at her home in Branford, Connecticut.