Happy Certified Nurses Day! 14 Iconic Black Nurses Who Changed The Medical Game - Page 13

12. Beverly Malone

Beverly Malone is a distinguished nurse and advocate whose global impact on the nursing profession has been profound. As the former CEO of the National League for Nursing, Malone championed diversity in nursing leadership and education. Growing up in the segregated South of Kentucky, she worked alongside her great-grandmother, a community healer, which inspired her lifelong passion for healthcare, as reported by BBC News. She learned about herbal medicine and used the special herbs she would pick alongside her great-grandmother to heal people in their community.

Malone went on to break barriers, becoming the first African American general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing. She also served as president of the American Nurses Association twice and held the role of deputy assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—making her the highest-ranking nurse in the U.S. government at that time.