List of nurses

This is a list of famous nurses in history. To be listed here, the nurse must already have a Wiki biography article. For background information see History of nursing and Timeline of nursing history. For nurses in art, film and literature see list of fictional nurses.

• Lydia Abell ARRC (1872-1959) Australian civilian and military nurse during the First World War
• Judith Adams (1943–2012) Australian nurse, midwife and politician
• Justus A. Akinsanya Professor of Nursing and Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing
• Saint Alda (died c. 1309), Italian Catholic saint
• Moyra Allen (1921–1996), helped develop the McGill Model of Nursing
• Allen Allensworth (1842–1914) famous African-American American Civil War soldier who started as a nurse
• Annie Altschul (1919-2001) Britain's mental health nurse pioneer
• Margaret Irene Anderson (1915–1995) Australian Army nurse
• Pixie Annat (1930-2022) Australian Matron and Queensland Great
• Olive Anstey CBE (1920–1983) Australian nurse
• Sir Jonathan Asbridge, first president of the UK's Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Charles Atangana (1880–1943), paramount chief of the Ewondo and Bane in Cameroon
• Margaret Auld (1932 -2010) Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland 1977-1988
• Martha Ballard (1735–1812), American frontier midwife, great-aunt of Clara Barton
• Anna Baillie RRC (1864–1958) established the first provincial Preliminary Training School for Nurses, and served as a Principal military Matron of Bristol during the First World War.
• Doris Bardsley (1895-1968) Australian nurse, President of the Australasian Trained Nurses' Association
• Kathleen Hope Barnes ARRC MBE (1909–1981) Australian nurse
• Ellen Barron (1875–1951) Australian matron
• Nita Barrow (1916–1995), 5th Governor-General of Barbados who started as a nurse midwife and public health educator
• Clara Barton (1821–1912), organized the American Red Cross
• Dora Isabel Baudinet (1883–1945) Australian nurse
• Christine Beasley CBE (born 1944), Chief Nursing Officer for England
• Irene L. Beland (1906–2000), American nursing educator, author of Clinical Nursing: Pathophysiological and Psychosocial Approaches
• Jane Bell OBE (1873–1959) Scotland-born Australian principal matron of the First Australian General Hospital in Egypt in First World War
• Agnes Jessie Bennett (1880-1969) Australian nurse
• Isabel Bennett RRC (1862-1922), civilian matron and during First World War ran an annexe for injured officers.
• Ann A. Bernatitus (1912–2003), one of the Angels of Bataan - USN nurses in the Philippines in WW2
• Claire Bertschinger Swiss-British nurse who inspired the Band Aid charity movement
• Mary Ann Bickerdyke (1817–1901), nurse during the American Civil War known as "Mother Bickerdyke"
• Louisa Bicknell (1879–1915) Australian civilian and military nurse
• Martha Bidmead RRC (1862–1940) Australian nurse
• Florence Blake (1907–1983), American pediatric nursing professor and author
• Florence A. Blanchfield (1884–1971), superintendent of the United States Army Nurse Corps
• Isla Blomfield (1865-1959) Australian nurse
• Cecilia Blomqvist (1845–1890), Finnish deaconess
• Kath Bonnin (1911-1985) was an Australian army nurse during WW2^[1]
• Doris Booth (1895-1970) Australian nursing volunteer
• Angela Boškin (1885–1977), first professionally trained Slovenian nurse and social worker in Yugoslavia
• Hilda Bowen (1923–2002), credited with establishing the modern nursing profession in The Bahamas
• Peggy Boyd (1905–1999), one of Scotland's first air ambulance nurses; served during World War II
• Jo Brand (born 1957), British nurse-turned-comedian
• Elsa Brändström (1888–1948), Swedish World War I Red Cross nurse in Siberia
• Sister Philippa Brazill (1895–1988) Sister of Mercy, Australian nurse and hospital administrator
• Mary Carson Breckinridge (1881–1965), founder of the Frontier Nursing Service
• Daisy Bridges CBE (1894-1972) British nurse and midwife, known for being International Council of Nurses General Secretary
• Louisa Briggs (1836–1925) Australian nurse and, Aboriginal leader and activist
• Mary Francis Bridgeman (1813–1888), nun and Crimean War nurse
• Ellen Johanne Broe (1900–1994) Danish nurse and nursing educator
• Anna Broms (1862–1890), first professionally trained nurse in Finland
• Sidney Browne (1850-1941), first Matron-in-Chief of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service and first President of the Royal College of Nursing
• Viola Davis Brown (1936–2017), first African-American to lead a state office of public health nursing in the United States
• Abraão José Bueno (born 1977), Brazilian nurse and serial killer
• Carrie E. Bullock (1887–1962), African American nurse
• Vivian Bullwinkel (1915–2000), lone survivor of the Banka Island Massacre, celebrated by the Australian Service Nurses Memorial
• Beryl Burbridge OBE (1902-1988) Australian military matron
• Elizabeth Burchill (1904–2003) was an Australian nurse, philanthropist and author
• Mercia Butler (1933–1990) Indigenous Australian nurse and nun

• Betsi Cadwaladr (1789-1860), Welsh nurse who worked alongside Florence Nightingale in the Crimea
• Amanda Cajander, (1827-1871), pioneer in the education of deaconesses and nursing in Finland
• Maude E. Callen (1898-1990), American 20th century nurse-midwife
• John Campbell, British nurse, nursing educator, and YouTuber
• Sadie Canning MBE (1930-2008) Western Australia's first Aboriginal trained nurse and hospital matron
• Vice Admiral Richard Carmona (born 1949), American, registered nurse, later Surgeon General of the United States
• Dr Peter Carter OBE, British nurse and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing
• Anne Casey, New Zealand-born pediatric British nurse who developed Casey's model of nursing
• Alice Cashin RRC & Bar (1870-1939) Australian WWI military nurse
• Harriett Cassells FRCN (1926-2017) Northern Ireland nurse known for her work in fever nursing and infection control
• Mabel Helen Cave RRC (1863-1953) was a matron of The Westminster Hospital and war time nursing leader and member of the Army Nursing Board
• Edith Cavell (1865–1915), British nurse, World War I
• Dorothy Cawood MM (1884- 1962) an Australian civilian and military nurse
• Maria Cederschiöld (deaconess) (1815–1892), pioneer in the education of deaconesses and nursing in Sweden
• Patricia Downes Chomley (1910–2002) Australian nurse and college director
• Ellen Christensen (1913–1998), Danish nurse and resistance fighter
• Luther Christman (1915–2011), first male dean of a U.S. nursing program; established the Rush model of nursing
• Letitia Clark, MBE, RRC (1870-1939), matron, nursing leader and founding member of the precusor to the College of Nursing.
• Dame June Clark (1941-2025), Professor at University of Swansea and President of Royal College of Nursing 1990-1994
• Margaret Turner Clarke (1836-1887) pioneering Australian nurse
• Trevor Clay (1936-1994) General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing 1982-1989
• Jessie Clifton (1876-1959) Australian nurse who became Matron in charge of the Western Australian Nursing Transport system in WW1
• Rosabella Paulina Fynes Clinton (1853-1918), nurses, and founding member of masseuse institute, and council member of Royal College of Midwives
• Frances Cluett (1883-1969) Newfoundland army nurse and educator
• Sheila Collins (1921-2009) Royal College of Nursing's Chair of Council
• Louise Conring (1824-1891) first professionally trained nurse in Denmark, head of Copenhagen's Deaconess Institute
• Evelyn Conyers CBE, RRC & Bar (1870-1944) New Zealand-born Australian matron-in-chief during WW1
• Margaret Cooper (1922-2013) British nurse tutor
• Pearl Corkhill MM (1887-1985) decorated Australian military nurse of the First World War
• Cubah Cornwallis (died 1848), Jamaican nurse and "doctoress" who treated Nelson and William IV when they were stationed in the West Indies
• Rachael Cox-Davies (1862-1944) CBE, RRC Bar, British nurse, Matron, Royal Free Hospital and co-founder of the Royal College of Nursing
• Rose Creal RRC (1865-1921) decorated Australian military nurse of the First World War
• Joanna Cruickshank DBE, RRC (1875-1958) British nurse, founder and Matron-in-Chief of Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service
• Emily Margaret Cummins RRC (1866-1934), nursing leader and arranged first nurses day service in 1924.
• Lilian Ellen Cushon RRC & Bar (1873–1967) was a British nursing leader. During World War I, she was principal matron of the British Red Cross Hospital at Netley.
• Beatrice Cutler (1861-1942). Pioneering matron and founding Secretary of the National Council of Nurses of the United Kingdom.
• Andrea Dalzell, American nurse, first wheelchair-using registered nurse in the state of New York
• Harriet Patience Dame (1815–1900), nurse during the American Civil War, served with the 2nd New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry
• Grace Ebun Delano (born 1935), Nigerian nurse and midwife, pioneer of reproductive health services in Nigeria
• Jane Delano (1862–1919), founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service
• Sylvia Denton (1941-2020), President of the Royal College of Nursing 2002-2006
• Maria de Villegas de Saint-Pierre (1870–1941) founded the Saint-Camille Nursing School and directed the Élisabeth Hospital in Poperinge during World War I
• Edith DeVoe (1921–2000) 1st African-American nurse to serve in the regular Navy, World War II and Korean War nurse
• Marion Dewar (1928–2008), Canadian nurse, mayor of Ottawa and a member of the Parliament
• Louise Dietrich (1878–1962), American nurse in Texas and suffragist
• Dorothea Dix (1802–1887), superintendent of Army Nurses during the American Civil War
• Elizabeth Dodds RRC (1872-1944) Nursing leader and matron of Bethnal Green Infirmary and Military Hospital.
• Josephine Dolan (1913–2004), nursing historian and educator at the University of Connecticut
• Mary Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Lymington (1921–2003), Lord Mayor of London
• Sister Dora (1832–1878), British 19th century nurse
• Ellen Dougherty (1844–1919), first professionally trained Registered Nurse in New Zealand
• Rosalie Dreyer (1895–1987) Swiss-born, naturalized British nurse, known as matron-in-charge of the Nursing Service of the London County Council.
• Lucy Lincoln Drown (1848–1934), American nursing educator
• Diane Duane (born 1952) American nurse who became a science fiction and fantasy author
• Lois Dunbar (fl. 1861–1864), American Civil War nurse
• Anka Đurović (1850–1925), Serbian nurse in the first Serbian-Turkish War, the Bulgarian-Serbian War, the First Balkan War, the Second Balkan War, and World War I.

• Sarah Emma Edmundson (1841–1898), Canadian-American author who served with the Union Army in the American Civil War
• Alice Gordon Elliott OBE (1886–1977), Australian nurse and community worker
• Victoria Joyce Ely (1889-1979), Florida's first licensed midwife. Conducted training programs for midwives in the state
• Queen Fabiola of Belgium (1928–2014), worked as a floor nurse in Spain before being crowned Queen of Belgium
• Saint Fabiola (died 399), Catholic saint who cared for the sick and poor
• Claire Fagin (1926 –2024) American nurse, educator, and academic
• Helen Fairchild (1885–1918), American nurse World War I
• Florence Farmborough (1887–1978), British nurse who kept diaries of her service during World War I as a Red Cross nurse with the Imperial Russian army
• Ainna Fawcett-Henesy, FRCN (1946-) Irish nurse, former Regional Adviser on Nursing and Midwifery for Europe for WHO
• Barbara Fawkes (1914-2002) Chief Education Officer, General Nursing Council 1959-1974
• Ethel Gordon Fenwick (1856–1947) British nurse who led the campaign for the State Registration of Nursing in Britain
• Erna Flegel (1911–2006), Adolf Hitler's nurse
• Alma E. Foerster (1885–1967) American nurse who served in World War I, received the Florence Nightingale Medal (1920) and then worked in the United States Public Health Service
• Edna Lois Foley (1878–1943), American nurse
• Elizabeth Warham Forster (1886–1972), American nurse who served the Navajo Nation and advocated for their retention of traditional medicine practices
• Dame Elizabeth Fradd (1949-2024) Assistant Chief Nurse in the UK Department of Health
• Edith de Magalhães Fraenkel (1889-1969), Brazilian nurse
• Phyllis Friend (1922-2013) Chief Nursing Officer, UK Department of Health 1969-1982
• Michiko Fujiwara (1900–1983), Japanese nurse who later became a politician

• Genevieve de Galard (1925–2024), French nurse during the French war in Indochina
• Nelly Garzón Alarcón (1932–2019), Colombian nurse, teacher; first Latin American nurse to be president of the International Council of Nurses
• Eliza George (1808–1865), American Civil War nurse
• Abigail Hopper Gibbons (1801–1893), abolitionist activist during the American Civil War
• Annie Warren Gill (1862 –1930) President of the College of Nursing in 1927; Matron, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
• Helen L. Gilson (1836–1868), American Civil War nurse
• Haydee Gómez Cascante (1926–2024), Costa Rican obstetrician nurse and educator
• Nicolle Gonzales (born 1980), Native American certified nurse midwife and founder of the Changing Woman Initiative
• Stella Goostray (1886–1969), American nurse, author and educator
• Marjory Gordon, nursing theorist and professor who created a nursing assessment theory known as Gordon's functional health patterns
• Kate Gosselin, American nurse who became a television personality
• Dorothy Granada (b. 1930), American nurse, humanitarian, and peace and social justice activist who founded a women's healthcare clinic in Mulukukú, Nicaragua, and was awarded the International Pfeffer Peace Award in 1997
• Margaret Dorothy Green (1929–2017) instrumental in setting up the UKCC, the forerunner of the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council
• John Greene (nurse) (1916-2001) first male president of the Association of Nurse Administrators 1976-1979
• Elinor D. Gregg (1889–1970), American public nurse
• Mona Grey (1910–2009) Northern Ireland's first Chief Nursing Officer
• Cathinka Guldberg (1840–1919), first professionally trained nurse in Norway
• Dame Catherine Hall (nurse) (1922–1996) General Secretary Royal College of Nursing (1957–1982)
• Cornelia Hancock (1839–1926), American Civil War nurse
• Helen Hanks ARRC (1886 -1949) British matron at St. George's Hospital
• Jean Evelyn Headberry (1911–1993), Australian registered nurse and midwife and recipient of the Florence Nightingale Medal
• Winifred Hector (1909-2002) UK pioneering reformer of nurse education
• Eliza Parks Hegan (1861–1917), Canadian nurse
• Bodil Hellfach (1856–1941) Danish nurse, deputy head of the Danish Nurses' Organization
• Virginia Henderson (1897–1996), 'First Lady of Nursing", American nurse theorist
• Monina Hernandez, first Filipino nurse to be appointed to the Nursing Council of New Zealand^[2] and first Filipino elected as director of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation^[3]
• Pamela Hibbs (1935 – 2021) British nurse and pioneer in pressure sore prevention
• Mary A. Hickey (1874–1954), American nurse and health administrator
• Lenah Higbee (1874–1941), pioneering U.S. Navy nurse during World War I
• Elaine Hills-Young MBE (1895-1983) British nurse integral to establishing the Red Cross in the Sudan
• Lisbeth Hockey (1918–2004) Austrian-born British nurse, first director of the Nursing Research Unit in Edinburgh.
• Gerda Höjer (1893-1974) recipient of the Florence Nightingale Medal and President of the International Council of Nurses
• Stanley Holder OBE FRCN (1928–2017) British nurse leader, member of the UKCC United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing Midwifery and Health Visiting Board
• Lydia Holman (1868–1960), American nurse who dedicated her life to promoting rural public health
• Anna Morris Holstein (1825-1900), American Civil War Nurse, Matron-in-Chief, from Gettysburg to Virginia, Author of Three Years in Field Hospitals Of The Army Of The Potomac
• Flora Hommel (1928–2015), American childbirth educator
• Dame Agnes Hunt (1867-1948), British Orthopaedic Nursing pioneer
• Alberta Hunter (1895-1984), American nurse who became a jazz singer
• Rachela Hutner (1909-2008) Polish pioneer nurse, credited with establishing the modern Polish nursing profession

• Euphemia Steele Innes RRC DN (1874–1955), Scottish nurse, matron of Leeds General Infirmary and of 2nd Northern General Hospital, founded Leeds Nurses' League
• Calamity Jane (1852-1903), American frontierswoman and nurse
• Sally Lucas Jean (1878–1971), American health educator and nurse
• Victoria Jensen (1847–1930), deaconess, nursing supervisor, from 1914 head of Copenhagen's Deaconess Institute
• Hazel Johnson-Brown (1927-2011), first African-American head of the United States Army Nurse Corps
• June Jolly (1928–2016), British pioneer of children's nursing
• Liliane Juchli (1933-2020), Swiss nurse and author/editor of a highly influential nursing textbook
• Ani Kalayjian Syrian born Armenian American academic, nurse, and founder of Meaningful World
• Caroline Keer RRC & Bar (1857-1928) British military nurse, Matron-in-chief Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
• Carol Kefford (born 1958), British nurse and administrator
• Virginia Clinton Kelley (1923-1994), American nurse anesthetist and mother of United States President Bill Clinton
• Alicia Mary Kelly ARRC, MM (1874 – 1942) Irish-born Australian nurse, First World War.
• Dame Betty Kershaw, British nurse, Professor at Sheffield University, President Royal College of Nursing
• Eunice Muringo Kiereini, (born 1939), Chief Nursing Officer of Kenya and first African president of the International Council of Nurses
• Docia Kisseih, (1919-2008), Ghanaian nurse and midwife, initiated advances in nursing and nurse training in post-independence Ghana
• Thora Knudsen (1861-1950), Danish nurse, trades unionist and women's rights activist
• Charlotte Kratz (1922–2006) British nurse pioneer in community health, first UK PhD in nursing
• Margaret Currie Neilson Lamb (1907-1992) British nurse, first nurse to chair General Nursing Council in Scotland.
• Ashley Leechin (born 1993) American nurse who became a social media personality
• Florence Sarah Lees (1840-1922) pioneer in District Nursing in the UK
• Nancy J. Lescavage, Director of the Navy Nurse Corps
• Daurene Lewis, nurse and first Black woman mayor in North America
• Janet Lim (1923-2014), nurse at St. Andrew's Community Hospital. She was the first nurse from Singapore to study in Britain. She was inducted as 2014 Singapore Women's Hall of Fame.^[4]
• Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882), volunteer nurse during the American Civil War
• Winifred W. Logan (1926-2025) British Nurse theorist and co-author of the Roper-Logan-Tierney model of nursing
• Kate Lorig, American nurse, professor at Stanford University School of Medicine
• Ljubica Luković, (1858-1915) established the first nurses' training course in Serbia and in 1925 was posthumously awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal
• Courtney Lyder (born 1966), Trinidadian-American nurse, first black dean of the UCLA School of Nursing^[5]

• Dorothy Macham ARRC (1910-2002) Canadian nurse, known as the Executive Director of Toronto’s Women's College Hospital
• Eliza Mackenzie (1816-1892) Scottish military nurse superintendent
• Emily MacManus (1886-1978) British nurse, matron at Guy's Hospital; President of Royal College of Nursing 1942–1944
• Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (1897–1965) British royalty who undertook some nurse training and was a prominent advocate for nursing
• Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845–1946), first professionally trained African-American nurse
• Jeanne Mance (1606–1673), French nurse, founder of Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal (1645)
• Sophie Mannerheim (1863–1928), pioneer of modern nursing in Finland
• Marie Manthey (born 1935), one of the originators of Primary Nursing
• Louise de Marillac (1591–1660), founder of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul
• Kate Marsden (1859–1931), British missionary nurse and explorer
• Sister M. T. Martin (1881–1929) Australian nurse sister who made graffiti in Egypt
• Anna Maxwell (1851–1929), U.S. Army nurse whose activities were crucial to the growth of professional nursing in America
• Carolyn McCarthy, American nurse who became a politician
• Mabel Mary McCutcheon MBE (1886–1942) was a British-born nurse who established health facilities at Port Adelaide
• Jean McFarlane, Baroness McFarlane of Llandaff (1926– 2012), British nurse and member of the House of Lords.
• Louisa McLaughlin (1836–1921), one of the first British Red Cross nurses, served in two wars
• Louise McManus, American nurse, first nurse to earn a PhD. Referred to as Louise McManus
• M. Helena McMillan (1869–1970), Canadian-American nursing educator
• Agda Meyerson, (1866–1924) pioneering Swedish nurse
• Anne Milton (born 1955), British nurse who became a politician
• Jane Minor, aka Gensey Snow, (1792–1858), African-American healer, midwife, and slave emancipator
• Marie de Miribel (1872–1959), French nurse, Catholic activist and politician in Paris
• Honnor Morten (1861-1913) British nurse, journalist and campaigner
• Sarah Mullally (born 1962) British nurse and Chief Nursing Officer who then became Bishop of London
• Charlotte Munck (1876–1932), Danish nurse, important figure in the training of nurses
• Annie Murray (1906–1996) Scottish nurse who went to the Spanish Civil War
• Helen Mussallem (1915–2012) executive director of the Canadian Nurses Association
• Razan al-Najar (1996/1997–2018), Palestinian nurse shot during a rescue in 2018 Gaza border protests
• Elizabeth Grace Neill (1846–1926), New Zealand nurse who campaigned for state registration of nurses - New Zealand being the first country in the world to achieve this in 1901
• Bertha Moraes Nérici (1921–2005), Brazilian nurse who served in World War II
• Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985), American nurse, co-leader of the Heaven's Gate religious cult
• Nora Neve (1873–1952), pioneer of missionary nursing in Kashmir
• Mary Ann Brown Newcomb (1817–1892) American Civil War nurse following the Battle of Fort Donelson
• Elizabeth B. Nichols (1821–1911), American Union nurse
• Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), British pioneer of modern nursing
• Lucille Elizabeth Notter (1907–1993), American nurse and nursing researcher
• Doreen Norton (1922–2007) British nurse and pioneer in prevention of bedsores
• Clara Noyes (1869–1946), enrolled 20,000 Red Cross nurses for World War I service, founded the first school for midwives in the U.S.
• Peggy Nuttall (1917–2008), British nurse journalist, editor and director of Nursing Times
• Mary Adelaide Nutting (1858–1948), Canadian nurse, educator, and pioneer in the field of hospital care

• Rosabelle Osborne CBE, RRC (died 8 May 1958) British military nurse, Principal Matron at the War Office and Matron-in-Chief at the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS)
• Lucy Osburn (1836–1891), Australia's first professionally trained nurse
• Katherine Olmsted (1888–1964), American Red Cross nurse
• Hettie Kersey Painter (1821–1889), American physician and Civil War nurse
• Emily Elizabeth Parsons (1824–1880) American Civil War nurse, hospital administrator, and founder of Mt. Auburn Hospital
• Sara E. Parsons (1864–1949), American nurse, writer and health administrator
• Emma Maria Pearson (1828–1893), writer and one of the first British Red Cross nurses, served in two wars
• Lucy Creemer Peckham (1842–1923), American nurse, physician, and poet
• Sue Pembrey (1942–2013) British nurse pioneer of patient-centred hospital care
• Hildegard Peplau (1909-1999) American nurse and academic, created the middle-range nursing theory of interpersonal relations
• Anita Thigpen Perry, American nurse who became First Lady of Texas
• Jill Pettis, New Zealand nurse who became a Member of Parliament
• Lynne Pillay, New Zealand nurse who became a Member of Parliament
• Chief Kofoworola Abeni Pratt (1915–1992) Nigerian nurse, first black Chief Nursing Officer of Nigeria
• Kerry Prendergast, New Zealand who became Mayor of Wellington
• Dame Winifred Prentice (1910-2007) DBE Matron Stracathro Hospital and President of the Royal College of Nursing 1972-1976
• Sheila Quinn (1920-2016) President of the Royal College of Nursing 1982-1986; executive director International Council of Nurses 1967-1970.
• Tom Quinn, British nurse, Professor of Cardiac nursing
• Dorothy MacBride Radwanski (1928–2012) Scottish nurse pioneer in occupational health nursing
• Halima Rafat, pioneer Afghan nurse and women's rights activist, one of the first nurses of her country
• Kaye Lani Rae Rafko (born 1963) American nurse who became Miss America 1988
• Emmy Rappe (1835–1896), first professionally trained Swedish nurse, pioneer in the education of nurses
• Elizabeth Raybould (1926 –2015) English nurse and pioneer in Nurse education in Northern Ireland
• Rebecca Raymer, American politician and nurse
• Claire Rayner (1931–2010), British nurse who became a journalist, agony aunt and activist
• Dame Kathleen Raven (1910-1999) Chief Nursing Officer, UK Department of Health
• Eileen Rees (1912–2008) Chief Nursing Officer at the University Hospital of Wales, and nurse educationalist
• Dorothy E. Reilly (1920–1996), American nurse and nursing educator
• Helen Repa (1884–1938) Czech American nurse, hero of the SS Eastland Disaster of 1915.
• Anna Reynvaan (1844–1920), first professionally trained nurse in The Netherlands.^[6]
• Linda Richards (1841–1930), America's first professionally trained nurse
• Isabel Hampton Robb, American nurse theorist who helped develop early programs of nursing education
• Kathleen Robb (1923 –2020) Northern Irish nurse and last matron of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast
• Rachel Robinson (born 1922), American nurse, also known as wife of baseball star Jackie Robinson
• Elaine Roe, U.S. Army nurse, one of the first four women to be awarded the Silver Star
• Edith MacGregor Rome British nurse and matron, President of the Royal College of Nursing
• Juanita Rule (1914–2008) British nurse, educator and trade unionist.

• Margaret Sanger (1879–1966), American nurse and founder of the U.S. birth control movement
• Dame Cicely Saunders (1918–2005) British nurse who influenced the hospice movement
• Betty Schmoll (1936–2015), American nurse, founder of Hospice of Dayton, one of the first hospice programs in the United States
• Lynda Scott, New Zealand nurse who became a Member of Parliament
• Mary Seacole (1805–1881), Jamaican-British nurse in the Crimean War known as "the Black Florence Nightingale"
• Schwester Selma (1884–1984), German-Jewish head nurse in Jerusalem, known as "the Jewish Florence Nightingale"
• Flora Madeline Shaw (1864–1927), Canadian nurse and nursing teacher
• Nigar Shikhlinskaya (1871–1931), first professionally trained Azerbaijani nurse
• Kapelwa Sikota (1928–2006), first Zambian registered nurse
• Kathleen Simon, Viscountess Simon (1864–1955), British nurse and midwife, an who later married Sir John Simon, an abolition of slavery campaigner
• Hilda Marjorie Simpson (1914–1992) British nurse pioneer in nursing research and founder of the Royal College of Nursing Research Society
• Muriel Skeet (1926–2006) British nurse, Chief Nursing Officer to the British Red Cross Society
• Eileen Skellern (1923–1980) influential British mental health nurse
• Jessie Sleet Scales (1865–1956), first black public health nurse in the United States
• Dame Anne Beadsmore Smith DBE, RRC & Bar (1869-1960) British nurse and British Army officer
• Dorothy Smith (nurse) CBE (1895–1988) British matron, also Chair of the General Nursing Council
• Myrah Keating Smith (1908–1994) nurse, midwife, only medical provider on Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands for two decades
• Mary Southcott (1862–1943) Canadian nurse leader, including founder of the Graduate Nurses’ Association of Newfoundland
• Mabel Keaton Staupers (1890–1989), advocate for racial equality in the nursing profession during era of American segregation.
• Daphne Steele (1929–2004), Guyanese Matron, was the first Black Matron in the British NHS.
• Maria Stencel (1900–1985), Polish Director of the School of Nursing at Łódź in 1946
• Maude Storey (1930–2003) President of the Royal College of Nursing 1988-1990
• Margaretta Styles (1930–2005) American advocate for standardization of nursing credentials, University of California, San Francisco Nursing School dean, past president of the American Nurses Association and International Council of Nurses
• Sarah Swift (1954–1937) Matron in Chief British Red Cross Society in WW1 and co-founder Royal College of Nursing
• Adah Belle Samuels Thoms (1870–1943) African American nurse, pioneering African-American rights activist, who fought for African-American nurses to be permitted to serve in the U.S. armed forces
• Godiva Marian Thorold (1840-1918) British nurse, matron, and as a founding member of the British Nursing Association
• Violetta Thurstan (1879–1978) British nurse, decorated for bravery durign First World War
• Robert Tiffany (1942–1993) British nurse, President of European Oncology Nursing Society
• Annie Rensselaer Tinker (1884–1924) volunteer nurse in WWI, suffragist, and philanthropist
• Sally Louisa Tompkins (1833–1916) humanitarian and philanthropist during the American Civil War
• Harriet Tubman (c. 1822–1913) African-American abolitionist
• Theodora Turner OBE, ARRC (1907-1999) Matron St Thomas' Hospital; President of the Royal College of Nursing (1966–1968)

• Florence Udell British nurse, President of the Royal College of Nursing 1964–1966
• Florence Wald (1917-2008) American nurse, founder of the hospice movement in the U.S.
• Lillian Wald (1867–1940) American nurse, founder of visiting nursing in the U.S.
• Lucy Wamsley, OBE (1871-1947) British nurse, hospital matron and Lady Inspector for the Local Government Board
• Agnes Watt, RRC (1859 -1946) British nurse, oversaw the introduction of modern Nightingale style nursing whilst she was Matron of the Radcliffe Infirmary and was Principal Matron in the TFNS, of the 3rd Southern General hospital, Oxford, 1909–1922
• Jean Watson American nurse theorist and nursing professor, best known for her Theory of Human Caring
• Faye Wattleton (born 1943) American nurse who became President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America
• Richard Wells (nurse) (1941–1993) British nurse, he shaped the nursing response to HIV/AIDS in the UK
• Grace Margery Westbrook CBE (1910–1999) British nurse, the first practising nurse to be elected Chair of the Staff Side of the Nurses and Midwives Whitley Council
• Elizabeth Wettlaufer (born 1967), Canadian serial killer who murdered eight of her patients with insulin injections
• Beatrice Brysson Whyte (1921-1993) British nurse and educator
• Elizabeth Elaine Wilkie (1915-1998) Scottish nurse, instrumental in the development of Health visitor training in the UK
• Louisa Wilkinson (1889 -1968) Matron-in-Chief of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service; President of the Royal College of Nursing
• Walt Whitman (1819-1892), American poet, American Civil War nurse
• Mary Opal Wolanin (1910 – 1997), American nurse and expert in eldercare
• Sara Wolfe (born 1973) Indigenous Canadian nurse, midwife, and healthcare advocate
• Lavinia Young (1911-1986) British nurse Matron Westminster Hospital
• Sarah Palmer Young (1830–1908) American Civil War nurse, author of a memoir
• Tome Yoshida (1876–1963) Japanese nurse who developed the Fukuoka nursing school.
• Sophie Zahrtmann (1841–1925) deaconess, nurse, head of Copenhagen's Deaconess Institute

• List of Danish nurses
• List of African-American women in medicine