Distinguished Alumni Award
Virginia Turner

"Turner believed that nurses must always be committed to their patients above all else, and that nursing is a profession of applying knowledge and laying on of hands..."

Virginia Turner 2000


Virginia Turner was the Director of the Allen Memorial Hospital Lutheran School of Nursing from 1957 - 1979.

Accomplishments:

  • Allen Memorial Hospital's first Obstetrics Instructor in 1942
  • In 1953 was the Fundamentals of Nursing Instructor in the School of Nursing and the Assistant Director of Nursing Services at the hospital
  • In 1957 - 1979 was the Director for the School of Nursing
  • Turner fought for male students to be in the program and allow students to marry, live outside the dormitory and continue their studies while pregnant
  • In 1964, she was appointed to the Iowa Board of Nursing and served until 1973