In Memoriam: Shirley Egan, Director of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital School of Nursing
Shirley Egan, who directed the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital School of Nursing from 1979 until the school closed in 1985, passed away Dec. 19, 2010.
Ms. Egan served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corp during World War II. Part of her service was aboard the U.S. Army Hospital Ship “Wisteria,” which transported German ex-prisoners of war back to Germany and returned sick and wounded Americans to the U.S.
Her career included positions as science instructor, education director and associate director at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital School of Nursing. She then accepted an assignment with U.S. AID, which sent her to Pakistan for eight years.
While in Pakistan, she was appointed principal of the Post-Graduate College of Nursing, a joint project between the U.S. and the government of Pakistan. Her duties included coordinating a two-year program for registered nurses in teaching and administration. During her tour in Pakistan, she met many dignitaries, including President Dwight Eisenhower, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Lady Bird Johnson, Jean Kennedy Smith, Jacqueline Kennedy and Queen Elizabeth II.
After completing her tour in Pakistan, she returned to Nashua, N.H., as director of the Nashua Visiting Nurse Service and then became executive director of the Lowell Visiting Nurse Association. She later accepted the position of short-term consultant for WHO/PAHO to assist in setting up a nursing program on the Pakistan Model at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.
Following this time abroad, she returned to Peter Bent Brigham School of Nursing as medical-surgical coordinator, associate director and then director until the school was phased out in 1985. She moved to Natchitoches, La., in 1987 to retire, but remained active as a part-time weekend supervisor at Evangeline Nursing Home. She also taught nursing assistant classes at Louisiana Vocational-Technical College in Natchitoches and Many.
Ms. Egan was a communicant of Holy Cross Catholic Church, a member and Vice Regent of CDA, Court Bishop Malloy, Nashua, N.H. and several professional organizations. She contributed articles to international nursing journals and chapters in several nursing text books.
Born in Haverhill, Mass., she was a graduate of Belmont High School. She received her basic nursing education at St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing in Nashua, N.H.; her bachelor of science in nursing education, and her master’s in nursing education administration from Boston University. Advancement of doctoral studies were achieved at Karachi University (under the auspices of London University) in Karachi, Pakistan.