Kathryn Barnard, PhD, RN, FAAN

(1938-2015)

Kathryn Barnard, PhD, RN, FAAN, was known for her work in parenting, infancy, and early childhood development at the University of Washington School of Nursing in Seattle, Washington. She founded both the Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training Program, and the Center on Infant Mental Health and Development to teach professional caregivers and parents how to better care for newborns, infants, and young children. The Barnard Center for Infant Mental Health and Development was renamed in her honor in 2012.

Dr. Barnard worked at the Douglas County Hospital in Omaha in 1954. She earned a BSN (University of Nebraska School of Nursing, 1960), an MSN (Boston University, 1963), and a PhD (University of Washington, 1972). She was named a fellow in the Institute of Medicine in 1985, a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing in 2006 and received an honorary Doctor of Science from UNMC in 1990.

Freddie Powell Johnson, MA, PhD, RN

(1931-1982)

Freddie Powell Johnson, MA, PhD, RN, is remembered by her colleagues for her “humanness” to students and patients. She joined the nursing staff of University Hospital and became the head nurse/supervisor before leaving in 1958 to be a nursing supervisor at the Salvation Army’s Booth Memorial Hospital in Omaha. She later taught medical-surgical nursing, quality assurance, and gerontology with clinical interest in nursing administration and elderly care at UNMC. Dr. Powell was also a clinical associate for the Visiting Nurse Association and primary nurse volunteer at a health maintenance center for the elderly.

Dr. Johnson graduated with a BSN (University of Nebraska School of Nursing, 1952) and completed a post-graduate certificate in maternity nursing at Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital in New Jersey in 1953. She earned an MA in Nursing Education (University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1973) and was the first recipient of the American Nurses Association Fellowship for Ethnic Minorities, which enabled her to complete her PhD (University of Nebraska – Lincoln, 1976).

Martha Foxall, PhD, speaking about Freddie Powell Johnson, PhD

Transcript

Martha Foxall (MF): In order to teach a specialty in a university setting in college and nursing, you had to have a master’s in the field. A master’s in education did not work. That's education in general. That's not in nursing. So then my friend Freddie said, “Let's go get our PhDs.”

Emily Brush (EB): I like this Freddie.

MF: [Laughs] I said, “What?” I said, “Okay.” She had already started. She said, “Martha, you need to get your PhD.” She was a year ahead of me. She started at UNL and I said, “Well—" But in order to teach—she had her masters in nursing, because she went to UNL, but I didn't. I said, “In order to for me to teach at the med center, I have to have a master’s in nursing,” I said, “So I have to go back and get that masters and then I can join you in the PhD program.” So that's what I did. I got the masters in nursing. And so that made me a year behind her. Then I started the PhD.

EB: And was the PhD at UNO or UNL?

MF: UNL.

EB: UNL.

MF: Yes. It was at UNL. Then she said, “Okay, when we get our PhDs, we're going to go on a cruise.” I said, “Okay.” Well, she of course finished before I did. I said, “Freddie, you go ahead and don't wait for me.” Well, by that time she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was in treatment, but she was still working. She said, “No. We said we were going to do this cruise together.” She waited for me, and the four of us, Freddie and I, and our husbands went on a cruise.

EB: Definitely a cruise-worthy accomplishment. You must have been so proud of one another.

MF: Yes. But Freddie was my—she’d always say, “Okay, we've done that. Now let's go—.” She was teaching by then at the med center. We were able to teach together for some years.