Pioneer of the hospice movement in the U.S., Florence S. Wald envisioned the need to maximize
the quality of life for the terminally ill. Following a trip to England in the late 1960s to assess the
care delivered at Saint Christopher's Hospice near London, Wald returned to this country and
implemented a feasibility study to determine the need for a hospice in Connecticut. Since that
time, her exemplary work with the dying has influenced the further development of hospice care
throughout the nation.
Born Florence Sophie Schorske on April 19, 1917, in New York City, she was the younger
of two children and attended school in Scarsdale, New York, where the family moved when she
was a small child. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor of arts degree in
1938 and, in 1941, received a master's degree in nursing from Yale University School of
Nursing. In 1959, she married Henry Wald whom she credits with being a constant, supportive
force in her life.
Wald began her nursing career as a staff nurse with the New York Visiting Nurse Service.
Ensuing positions included six years as a research assistant in the Surgical Metabolism Unit of
the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and two years as an instructor at Rutgers
University School of Nursing in New Jersey. In 1957, she was employed as assistant professor of
psychiatric nursing at Yale University School of Nursing and in 1959 was appointed dean and
associate professor, a position she retained for nine years. From 1969 to 1970, Wald continued at
Yale as a research associate and from 1970 to 1980 served as clinical associate professor. At the
same time, she was a member of the board and an integral part of the planning staff of Hospice
Incorporated in Branford, Connecticut, the first hospice in the United States. Recognizing that
the terminally ill have unique needs, Wald developed a hospice model that provides holistic and
humanistic care for the dying person and requires appropriate understanding of the concepts of
death and dying among nurses giving care in the hospice environment.
Today, Wald is a distinguished clinical professor of nursing at Yale University. She has
published widely and earned many distinctions, including a Founders Award from the National
Hospice Association, a Distinguished Woman of Connecticut Award from the governor of
Connecticut, fellowship in the American Academy of Nursing, and three honorary doctoral
degrees. Further, the Connecticut Nurses Association established the Florence S. Wald Award
for Outstanding Contributions to Nursing Practice in her honor.
Who We Are 
