List of nurse-politicians

Nurses have a long history of political activism; Florence Nightingale actively lobbied for better sanitation on the grounds of public health,[1] and signed her name to petitions for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom.[2] Lavinia Lloyd Dock, Lillian Wald, Ethel Gordon Fenwick and many others were similarly active. Despite this historic basis, there remain inherent tensions between nursing and politics, which have resulted in underrepresentation at the level of national political office. Nurses have been elected to serve as members of legislatures and have served as ministers of health.

The most prominent tension relates to gender. Nursing is one of the largest professions in the world, with approximately 29 million nurses worldwide in 2025.[3] According to the World Health Organization, approximately 90 percent of the global nursing and midwifery workforce is female, and 10 percent is male, yet only 25 percent of leadership roles in health are held by women.[4] Women remain similarly underrepresented in nationally elected parliaments; as at 2026, only 27.5 percent of parliamentarians were women, up from 11 percent in 1995.[5] Historically, women's suffrage was not guaranteed globally; for example, Florence Nightingale did not have the right to vote within her lifetime.[6][7] In the list below, the first identified nurse elected at a national level in politics was Kyllikki Pohjala in Finland as late as 1933.[8]

There is also a difference in how the professions of nursing and politics are perceived. In a 2025 US Gallop Poll, 76 percent of the respondents said nurses were highly rated for honesty and ethical standards, making it the most trusted profession for 23rd consecutive year, while state office holders were rated at 14 percent and members of Congress were rated 8 percent.[9][10] In 2024, the UK Ipsos veractity index rated nurses as the most trusted at 94 percent, against politicians as the least trusted at 11 percent.[11]

There is a tension that comes from being a profession that provides care without fear or favour. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in the UK recognises the right of individual nurses to hold political beliefs, also maintains that the NMC Code requires nurses to uphold standards of profession and not "impact their fitness to practise".[12] In 2026 the UK government published a report recommending prohibiting National Health Service staff from wearing political badges on their uniforms.[13]

There are some countries where this perception is being challenged; the American Association of Nurse Practitioners's Code of Ethics 9.5 states, "Nurses have a role at every level of the democratic process".[14] In 2026, there are 4.3 to 5 million registered nurses in the United States.[15] Despite their numbers, nurses remain under-represented in politics,[15][16] with none serving in the United States Senate, 3 serving in the United States Congress, and 86 serving in state legislatures.[17]

Beth Haney says that nurses are especially suited for political office, being highly educated, having the public trust, and demonstrating a sense of duty and responsibility through their profession.[18] Monica Barfield notes that the low numbers of nurse-politicians is "a critical missed opportunity for health care reform and equitable policy development."[15] The American Nurses Association Advocacy Institute, American Association of Nurse Practitioners Political Action Committee, Healing Nurses, the International Council of Nurses Global Nursing Leadership Institute, and Nurses on Board Coalition are national and global initiatives to prepare nurses for political engagement.[15][17][19]

List

Following is a list of notable trained or registered nurses who have served in government and/or been elected to national or subnational political offices, as of August 2026.

Further reading

  • Curley, Darlene J. and Stone, Patricia W. "Nurse State Legislators, 2013 to 2023". Nursing Outlook, vol. 72, no. 1, (2024). ISSN 0029-6554,doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102102.
  • Feldman, Harriet and Lewenson, Sandra B. Nurses in the Political Arena: The Public Face of Nursing. Springer Publishing, 2000. ISBN 9780826113313.
  • Koff, Sondra Z. Nurse Educators and Politics. State University of New York Press, 2012. ISBN 9780791485170.

References

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