Loretta Cecelia Ford (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Pfingstel; December 28, 1920 – January 22, 2025) was an American nurse and the co-founder of the first

nurse practitioner A nurse practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse and a type of mid-level practitioner. NPs are trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose disease, prescribe medications an ...

program. Along with pediatrician Henry Silver, Ford started the pediatric nurse practitioner program at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

in 1965. In 1972, Ford joined the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

as founding dean of their nursing school.

Early life

Loretta Pfingstel was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on December 28, 1920. Raised in the

Haskell Haskell () is a general-purpose, statically typed, purely functional programming language with type inference and lazy evaluation. Designed for teaching, research, and industrial applications, Haskell pioneered several programming language ...

section of Wanaque, New Jersey, she graduated with high honor from Butler High School in 1937. When she was young, she wanted to be a teacher, but her family's financial situation led her to choose a less costly educational path. When Ford graduated from high school at 16, she was too young to enter a postgraduate training program, so she worked at Middlesex General Hospital (now Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital) in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. While working in the hospital, Ford lived and studied with nursing students, and she decided to pursue nursing as a career. After a year and a half as a nurses' aide, Ford entered the nursing program at Middlesex General and received her Diploma in Nursing in 1941.

Career

After graduation, Ford joined the Visiting Nurse Service (VNS) of New Brunswick. However, her tenure with VNS was short-lived. In 1942, following the death of her fiancé in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Ford joined the

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. She had hoped to enter flight nurse training, but was denied due to her vision, and instead served at base hospitals in Florida and Maine. Through the

G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...

, Ford was then able to attend the

(CU), where she completed a B.S. in nursing with a

Public Health Nursing Public health nursing, also known as community health nursing is a nursing specialty focused on public health. The term was coined by Lillian Wald of the Henry Street Settlement, or, Public health nurses (PHNs) or community health nurses "integr ...

certificate (1949) and Master of Public Health Nursing Supervision (1951). At CU, Ford was mentored and impacted by several influential figures in nursing and public health including Lucile Petry Leone, Pearl Parvin Coulter, and Henrietta Loughran. During this time, Ford was also working as a public health nurse for Boulder County and eventually became the director of nursing at the Boulder City-County Health department. In 1961, Ford received her Doctorate in Nursing Education also from the University of Colorado. Her doctoral work was in the development of cases in public health nursing administration and was supported through a

National League for Nursing The National League for Nursing (NLN) is a national organization for faculty nurses and leaders in nurse education. It offers faculty development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiative ...

fellowship. Prior to completion of her EdD, Ford was already an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Nursing in Denver, and then earned full professorship in 1965. It was during her tenure at CU that Ford co-developed the first nurse practitioner program. In 1971, she was elected to the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

. Ford became the founding dean of the nursing school at the University of Rochester in 1972 and Director of Clinical Nursing at the university's teaching hospital, the Strong Memorial Hospital. At the University of Rochester, Ford developed the unification model of nursing.

Founding of nurse practitioner programs

As a public health nurse for Boulder County, Ford worked in rural Colorado in the 1940s and 1950s. Through CU's public health nursing program, Ford became one of the first test field teachers, training students from the Denver Visiting Nurse Service in these communities. During this time, she noted a deficit of care in these communities, which she and other nurses filled with temporary health clinics. This experience confirmed for Ford that nurses could independently fill gaps in healthcare if offered specialized training. Ford was given the opportunity to begin developing the specialized training she envisioned through the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education in Nursing. With this organization, Ford was part of a team of educators who developed a specialized clinical curriculum for community health, a curriculum she brought to CU to further develop. In 1965, Ford joined with pediatrician Henry Silver to create the pediatric nurse practitioner program at the University of Colorado. This was the first nurse practitioner program in the United States. The program was introduced in a ''

Pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

'' journal article in 1967 as, "a new educational and training program in pediatrics for professional nurses which has been developed to provide increased health care for children in both rural and urban areas." Early nurse practitioner programs faced opposition from established faculty at nursing schools. Due to the medical component of the curriculum, physicians were now involved in training nurses. Opponents were concerned this would lead to a supervisory relationship between nurse practitioners and physicians, instead of a cooperative relationship between independent colleagues. Critics felt this approach would allow medicine to usurp nursing. Additionally, there was a great deal of prejudice around the abilities of nurses that Ford worked to overcome in these first nurse practitioner programs.

Unification Model of Nursing

During her tenure as Dean at the University of Rochester, Ford developed a holistic approach to nursing education called the Unification Model of Nursing. The model is designed to include education, research, and clinical practice in the training of nurses.

Personal life and death

As an undergraduate, Loretta married William Ford in 1947, and her daughter was born in 1952. Ford retired in 1985 and moved to Florida. Ford turned 100 in December 2020, and died in Wildwood, Florida on January 22, 2025, at the age of 104.

Awards

In 1989, Ford received the Ruth B. Freeman Award in the Public Health Nursing Section from the

American Public Health Association The American Public Health Association (APHA) is a Washington, D.C.–based professional membership and advocacy organization for public health professionals in the United States. APHA is the largest professional organization of public health pr ...

. In 1990, she received the Gustav O. Lienhard Award from the

. Ford was named a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing in 1999. In 2003, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from ''The Nurse Practitioner''. She was honored with the Elizabeth Blackwell Award from

Hobart and William Smith Colleges Hobart and William Smith Colleges is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to Geneva Academy established in 1797. Students can choose from ove ...

that same year; the award honors "a woman whose life exemplifies outstanding service to humanity." She was inducted into the

National Women's Hall of Fame The National Women's Hall of Fame (NWHF) is an American institution founded to honor and recognize women. It was incorporated in 1969 in Seneca Falls, New York, and first inducted honorees in 1973. As of 2024, the Hall has honored 312 inducte ...

in 2011. In 2012, she was inducted into the

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the ...

. In 2020, Ford received the US Surgeon General's Medallion, awarded for exceptional achievements in the cause of public health and medicine. Ford held honorary doctorates from six universities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Loretta 1920 births 2025 deaths 20th-century American women 21st-century American women Advanced practice registered nurses American academic administrators American nursing administrators American nursing educators American women centenarians American women nurses Butler High School (New Jersey) alumni Female United States Air Force personnel Female United States Army personnel Health professionals from New York City Members of the National Academy of Medicine Military personnel from New York City Nurses from New Jersey Nursing school deans People from Wanaque, New Jersey United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II University of Colorado alumni University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus faculty University of Rochester faculty