Kofoworola Abeni Pratt

Kofoworola Abeni Pratt
Chief Kofoworola Abeni Pratt Hon. FRCN (1915–1992), a Nigerian-born nurse, was the first black nurse to work in Britain's National Health Service.[2] She subsequently became vice-president of the International Council of Nurses and the first black Chief Nursing Officer of Nigeria, working in the Federal Ministry of Health.[3][4]
Pratt, who was born to a prominent Nigerian family, studied to be a teacher at the United Missionary College in Ibadan, after her father discouraged her from her wish to be a nurse.[5] From 1936 to 1940 she taught at a Church Missionary Society girls' school in Nigeria.[5] She married a Nigerian pharmacist, Dr. Olu Pratt, who subsequently obtained British medical qualifications at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London.[6]
After moving to England in 1946,[5] Pratt studied nursing at the Nightingale School at St Thomas' Hospital, in London.[4] During her time at St Thomas' Hospital, Pratt experienced racial discrimination, when a patient refused to be treated by a black nurse.[7] Pratt passed her preliminary state exams in 1948 and her finals in 1949, qualifying as a State Registered Nurse in 1950.[1] It was unusual for a married woman to be allowed to take up nursing at that time, and Pratt was also the first qualified black nurse to work for the NHS.[4] During her time in London, she was active in the West African Students' Union,[5] an association of students from various West African countries who were studying in the United Kingdom, and which, in 1942, had called for the independence of Britain's West African colonies.[8]
Pratt returned to Nigeria in 1954, after 4 years working for the NHS. Although she was initially denied a post as ward sister – a position only open at the time for British ex-patriots[9] – she was appointed Matron of the University College Hospital in Ibadan within ten years. Pratt was the first Nigerian to hold that position.[5] She created a school of nursing at the University of Ibadan in 1965. Pratt was also a founder and leader of the Professional Association of Trained Nurses in Nigeria and founder and co-editor of the journal Nigerian Nurse.[10][11]
In 1973 she was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The citation described her as a:[15]
State Registered Nurse and Midwife. Certificate in Tropical Nursing. Teachers Diploma. Hospital Nursing Administration Certificate. Chief Nursing Officer, Federal Ministry of Health, Lagos.
She died on 18 June 1992.[18]