Jo Ann Ashley, nurse scholar, educator, and feminist activist died at age 41 in 1980. Ashley illuminated the historical foundations of modern medicine, nursing, and hospital care in her pivotal book published in 1976, Hospitals, Paternalism, and the Role of the Nurse. Ashley’s innovative research uncovered a web of pervasive gender and class bias in the delivery of healthcare in the United States. This column commemorates the 30-year anniversary of that publication with a remembrance of her life and ideas. It examines Ashley’s relevance for nursing theory and current practice through an analysis of her many scholarly works and through interviews with those who knew her.
Ashley, J. A. (1976). Hospitals, paternalism, and the role of the nurse. New York: Teacher’s College Press.
2.
Ashley, J. A. (1978). Foundations for scholarship: Historical research in nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 1, 25-36.
3.
Ashley, J. A. (1978b, May). [Quote]. Retrieved July 11, 2006, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing Web site: http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/history/ashley/quote1.htm
4.
Ashley, J. A. (1980). Power in structured misogyny: Implications for the politics of care. Advances in Nursing Science, 2, 3-22.
5.
Ashley, J. A. (1997a). Components of power. In K. A. Wolf (Ed.), Jo Ann Ashley: Selected readings (p. 21-21). New York: National League for Nursing Press.
6.
Ashley, J. A. (1997b). The emergence of new horizons in nursing: A timely commencement. In K. A. Wolf (Ed.), Jo Ann Ashley: Selected readings (pp. 241-250). New York: National League for Nursing Press. (Original address presented 1977)
7.
Ashley, J. A. (1997c). Health care, American style: Helter skelter, par excellence. In K. A. Wolf (Ed.), Jo Ann Ashley: Selected readings (pp. 65-81). New York: National League for Nursing Press. (Original work published 1975)
8.
Ashley, J. A. (1997d). Mobilization of nursing energies for constructive action on national and local levels. In K. A. Wolf (Ed.), Jo Ann Ashley: Selected readings (pp. 137-149). New York: NLN Press. (Original work published in 1975)
9.
Ashley, J. A. (1997e). Nursing power: Viable, vital, visible. In K. A. Wolf (Ed.), Jo Ann Ashley: Selected reading (pp. 83-102). New York: National League for Nursing Press. (Original work published 1976)
10.
Ashley, J. A. (1997f). Power, freedom, and professional practices in nursing. In K. A. Wolf (Ed.), Jo Ann Ashley: Selected readings (pp. 35-52). New York: National League for Nursing Press. (Original work published 1975)
11.
Ashley, J. A. (1997g). Professionalism and the law. In K. A. Wolf (Ed.), Jo Ann Ashley: Selected readings (pp. 121-136). New York: National League for Nursing Press. (Original work published 1977)
12.
Ashley, J. A. (1997h). This I believe about power in nursing. In K. A. Wolf (Ed.), Jo Ann Ashley: Selected readings (pp. 23-34). New York: National League for Nursing Press. (Original work published 1973)
13.
Ashley, J. A. (1997i). Women and the political process: Their social influence yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In K. A. Wolf (Ed.), Jo Ann Ashley: Selected readings (pp. 53-64). New York: NLN Press. (Original work published in 1975)
14.
Barrett, E. A. M. (1986). The principle of helicy: The relationship of human field motion and power. In V. M. Malinski (Ed.), Explorations on Martha Rogers’ science of unitary human beings (pp. 173-188). Norwalk, CT: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Chinn, P. L. (2001). Peace and power: Building communities for the future. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.
17.
Cody, W. K. (1994). Nursing theory-guided practice: What it is and what it is not. Nursing Science Quarterly, 7, 144-145.
18.
Cody, W. K. (2003a). Diversity and becoming: Implications of human existence as coexistence. Nursing Science Quarterly, 16, 195-200.
19.
Cody, W. K. (2003b). Nursing theory as a guide to practice. Nursing Science Quarterly, 16, 225-231.
20.
Cody, W. K. (2003c). Paternalism in nursing and healthcare: Central issues and their relation to theory. Nursing Science Quarterly, 16, 288-296.
21.
Cody, W. K., & Mitchell, G. J. (2002). Nursing knowledge and human science revisited: Practical and political considerations. Nursing Science Quarterly, 15, 4-13.
22.
Ely, T. (Producer/Director), & Moccia, P. (Executive Producer). (1991). Nursing in America: Through a feminist lens [Video]. New York: National League for Nursing.
23.
Fitzpatrick, M. L. (1981). A remembrance: Jo Ann Ashley. Society for Nursing History Gazette, 1(1), 1-2.
24.
Group, T. M., & Roberts, J. I. (2001). Nursing, physician control, and the medical monopoly: Historical perspectives on gendered inequality in roles, rights, and practice. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
25.
Kagan, P. N. (2004). Feeling listened to: A lived experience of human becoming. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL.
26.
Mitchell, G. J., & Cody, W. K. (2002). Ambiguous opportunity: Toiling for truth of nursing art and science. Nursing Science Quarterly, 15, 71-79.
27.
Newman, M. A. (2000). Health as expanding consciousness (2nd ed.). Boston: Jones & Bartlett.
28.
Parse, R. R. (1998). The human becoming school of thought: A perspective for nurses and other health professionals. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
29.
Roberts, J. I., & Group, T. M. (1995). Feminism and nursing: An historical perspective on power, status, and political activism in the nursing profession. Westport, CT: Praeger.
30.
Rogers, M. E. (1970). An introduction to the theoretical basis of nursing. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis.
31.
Stark, M. (1979). Introduction. In F. Nightingale, Cassandra (pp. 1-23). New York: The Feminist Press at The City University of New York. (Original work published 1860)
32.
Wolf, K. A. (1997). Jo Ann Ashley: Selected readings. New York: National League for Nursing Press.
