Faye Glenn Abdellah (born 1919) dedicated her life to nursing and, as a researcher and educator, helped change the profession's focus from a disease-centered approach to a patient-centered approach. She served as a public health nurse for 40 years, helping to educate Americans about the needs of the elderly and the dangers posed by AIDS, addiction, smoking, and violence. As a nursing professor, she developed teaching methods based on scientific research. Abdellah continued to work as a leader in the nursing profession into her eighties. Abdellah was born on March 13, 1919, in New York City. Years later, on May 6, 1937, the German hydrogen-fueled airship Hindenburg exploded over Lakehurst, New Jersey, where 18-year-old Classification systems have evolved in different ways within in the health-care industry, and Abdellah's work was foundational in the development of the most widely used form: Diagnostic related groups, or DRGs. DRGs, which became the standard coding system used by Medicare, categorize patients according to particular primary and secondary diagnoses. This system keeps health-care costs down because each DRG code includes the maximum amount Medicare will pay out for a specific diagnosis or procedure, while also taking into account patient age and length of stay in a health care facility. Providers are given an incentive to keep costs down because they only realize a profit if costs are less than the amount specified by the relevant DRG category. In addition to leading to the DRG system, Abdellah's work with classification has been instrumental in the ongoing development of an international classification system for nursing practice. As she explained in Image, "There is a major effort ongoing to develop an international classification for nursing practice - to provide a unifying framework for nursing." Served in Military Abdellah served for 40 years in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps, a branch of the military. She served on active duty during the Korean War and was the first nurse officer to achieve the rank of two-star rear admiral. Outside her wartime work, as a public health nurse, she focused much of her attention on care of the elderly.
