HAVANA, Cuba.- In 1899, during the US intervention and occupation, the first Cuban School of Nurses was founded at the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes hospital, thanks to the initiative of the American nurse Mary Agnes O’Donnell. In 1902 the first graduation took place, in which seven young people received their degree from the President of the Republic, Thomas Estrada Palma. Among them was Martina Guevara Molina, a native of the town of Vueltas, province of Las Villas.
For several years the young woman, who had shown plenty of intelligence and executive skills, kept working at the aforementioned hospital. In 1909 she was promoted to Superintendent, also assuming the direction of the School of Nursing where she had been trained.
Martina’s work on the Island was intense. In 1914 she organized the Child Hygiene Visiting Nurse Service, specialized in Public Health in Havana. Later, this effort was extended to Matanzas, Cárdenas, Pinar del Río, Cienfuegos and Santa Clara.
Martina Guevara was among the creators of the National Association of Nurses of the Republic of Cuba (ANERC), where she served for three years as Treasurer, a responsibility from which she promoted the construction of the Booth for tuberculosis nurses at the “La Esperanza” Sanatorium.
In 1922 she was commissioned by the Government to prepare in hospitals in the United States as a Nursing Practical Instructor, training complemented by a pedagogy course adapted to teaching nurses, which she received at Columbia University. The following year, once in Cuba, she held the position of Professor of Practical Instruction in the Hospitals “Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes”, “General Calixto García” and “cob”, becoming the first teaching nurse in Cuba.
Under her zeal and dedication, the National Association of Nurses of the Republic of Cuba prospered, an entity that fully financed the construction of the “Margarita Núñez” pavilion, at the Calixto García General Hospital. Inaugurated in 1928, the objective of the room was to provide care to sick health workers.
That same year he received the Gold Medal awarded by the Red Cross to honor his 25 years of service. In 1929 he was awarded the Medal of Merit and Constancy.
Martina Guevara Molina was born on a day like today, June 12, in the year 1883.
