Introducing the Theorist
In this chapter, we describe Lydia Hall and her
conceptual model of nursing, her work at the Loeb
Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, the implica-
tions of her work for practice and research, and,
finally, our views about how Hall might reflect on
the future of nursing in the twenty-first century.
The purpose of this chapter is to share the story of
Lydia Hall’s life and her contribution to profes-
sional nursing rather than to critique a nursing
theory.
Visionary, risk taker, and consummate profes-
sional, Lydia Hall touched all who knew her in a
special way. She inspired commitment and dedica-
tion through her unique conceptual framework for
nursing practice that viewed professional nursing
as the key to the care and rehabilitation of patients.
A 1927 graduate of the York Hospital School of
Nursing in Pennsylvania, Hall held various nursing
positions during the early years of her career. In the
mid-1930s, she enrolled at Teachers College,
Columbia University, where she earned a bachelor
of science degree in 1937, and a master of arts de-
gree in 1942. She worked with the Visiting Nurse
Service of New York from 1941 to 1947 and was a
member of the nursing faculty at Fordham
Hospital School of Nursing from 1947 to 1950. Hall
was subsequently appointed to a faculty position at
Teachers College, where she developed and imple-
mented a program in nursing consultation and
joined a community of nurse leaders. At the same
time, she was involved in research activities for the
U.S. Health Service. Active in nursing’s professional
organizations, Hall also provided volunteer service
to the New York City Board of Education, Youth
Aid, and other community associations (Birnbach,
1988).
Hall’s model, which she designed and put into
place in the Loeb Center for Nursing and
Rehabilitation at Montefiore Medical Center in
New York, was her most significant contribution to
nursing practice. Opened in 1963, the Loeb Center
was the culmination of five years of planning and
construction under Hall’s direction. The circum-
stances that brought Hall and the Loeb Center to-
gether date back to 1947, when Dr. Martin
Cherkasky was named director of the new hospital-
based home care division of Montefiore Medical
Center in Bronx, New York. At that time, Hall was
employed by the Visiting Nurse Service at its
Bronx office and had frequent contact with the
Montefiore home care program. Hall and
Cherkasky shared congruent philosophies regard-
ing health care and the delivery of quality service,
which served as the foundation for a long-standing
professional relationship (Birnbach, 1988).
In 1950, Cherkasky was appointed director of
the Montefiore Medical Center. During the early
years of his tenure, existing traditional convalescent
homes fell into disfavor. Convalescent treatment
was undergoing rapid change due largely to med-
ical advances, new pharmaceuticals, and technolog-
ical discoveries. One of the homes that closed as a
result of the emerging trends was the Solomon and
Betty Loeb Memorial Home in Westchester
County, New York. Cherkasky and Hall collabo-
rated in convincing the board of the Loeb Home to
join with Montefiore in founding the Loeb Center
for Nursing and Rehabilitation. Using the proceeds
from the sale of the Loeb Home, plans for the Loeb
Center construction proceeded over a five-year pe-
riod, from 1957 to 1962. Although the Loeb Center
was, and still is, an integral part of the Montefiore
physical complex, it was separately administered,
with its own board of trustees that interrelated with
the Montefiore board.
Under Hall’s direction, nurses selected patients
for the Loeb Center based on their potential for
rehabilitation. Qualified professional nurses pro-
vided direct care to patients and coordinated
needed services. Hall frequently described the cen-
ter as “a halfway house on the road home” (Hall,
1963a, p. 2), where the nurse worked with the pa-
tients as active participants in achieving desired
outcomes. Over time, the effectiveness of Hall’s
practice model was validated by the significant de-
cline in the number of readmissions among former
Loeb patients as compared with those who received
other types of posthospital care (“Montefiore cuts,”
1966).
In 1967, Hall received the Teachers College
Nursing Alumni Award for distinguished achieve-
ment in nursing practice. She shared her innovative
ideas about the nursing practice with numerous
audiences around the country and contributed ar-
ticles to nursing journals. In those articles, she re-
ferred to nurses using feminine pronouns. Because
gender-neutral language was not yet an accepted
style, and women comprised 96 percent of the114 SECTION II Evolution of Nursing Theory: Essential Influences