Alice Ross-King was a theatre sister before she was anything else. By 1914 she was in charge of a private hospital in Melbourne, having trained at the Alfred Hospital and worked as a ward sister, night superintendent and acting matron. Four years later she was one of the first Australian nurses to be awarded the Military Medal, for what she did in a canvas ward that had just been bombed. Every fact below is drawn from her service record, her diaries and the official record. B

Vivian Bullwinkel was the sole surviving nurse of the Bangka Island Massacre. This is her verified story, from Singapore in 1941 to a lifetime of nursing leadership.

James Derham overcame slavery and limited access to education to become one of the earliest recognised African American physicians in the United States.

Mary Eliza Mahoney became the first African American professionally trained nurse in the United States and helped open doors for future generations.

Ellen Dougherty became New Zealand’s first registered nurse in 1901 and is widely recognised as the first registered nurse in the world.

Florence Nightingale transformed nursing through sanitation, education, evidence and patient advocacy.