Hildegard Peplau

PhD, RN, FAAN

(1909 - 1999)

Hildegard E. Peplau, PhD, RN, FAAN, known as the "mother of psychiatric nursing," died at the age of 89 on March 17, 1999. The only nurse to serve the ANA as executive director and later as president, she served two terms on the Board of the International Council of Nurses (ICN). In 1997, she received nursing's highest honor, the Christiane Reimann Prize, at the ICN Quadrennial Congress. In 1996, the American Academy of Nursing honored Peplau as a "Living Legend," and, in 1998, the ANA inducted her into its Hall of Fame. (Extract from the "Peplau leaves legacy of achievement" article below - Nursing World May 1999)

Hildegard Peplau's fifty-year career in nursing left an indelible stamp on the profession of nursing, and on the lives of the mentally ill in the United States. She wore many hats - founder of modern psychiatric nursing, innovative educator, advocate for the mentally ill, proponent of advanced education for nurses, Executive Director and then President of the American Nurses Association, and prolific author. Her life was often marked with controversy, which she faced with courage and determination.

• Interpersonal relations model - Peplau's seminal book, Interpersonal Relations in Nursing, was completed in 1948, but not published for four years because it was then considered too revolutionary for a nurse to publish a book without a physician co-author. (Information from Nursingtheory.net)

• Peplau leaves legacy of achievement: - Nursing World May 1999 (A Tribute)

• Hildegard Peplau Nursing Theorist Homepage. - University of Western Ontario School of Nursing.