Ildaura Murillo-Rohde: Google Doodle honors legendary Panamanian-American nurse
September 15 marks the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month. To start the month on a merry note, Google decided to dedicate its Doodle to Ildaura Murillo-Rohde — Panamanian-American nurse and educator. Murillo-Rohde is best known for her efforts to take care of the Hispanic community, and helping others follow her footsteps. She stressed on the importance of how nurses should be culturally aware to be able to provide the best care to their patients. Murillo-Rohde was also a psychotherapist in private practice, and held several academic appointments in various universities.
Google has previously dedicated its Doodles to various personalities like Kadambini Ganguly, Angela Peralta, Ludwig Guttmann and more.
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Besides specializing in psychiatric nursing, Murillo-Rohde was an academic and organizational administrator. Among various other achievements in her life, she founded the National Association of Hispanic Nurses in 1975. She also served as a World Health Organization consultant to Guatemala.
Murillo-Rohde was born on Septermber 6, 1920, in Panama. After emigrating to the United States in 1945, she began her nursing career in San Antonio, Texas — a city which has a large Hispanic population. She soon found that there were not many Hispanic nurses in the area and starting recruiting and training more. While in San Antonio, she earned an undergraduate degree in the teaching and supervision of psychiatric nursing, a master's degree in teaching and curriculum development, and another master's degree in education and administration.
Murillo-Rohde went on to become the first Hispanic nursing dean at New York University. She was named a 'Living Legend' by the American Academy of Nursing in 1994. She breathed her last in 2010 in Panama, just one day before her 90th birthday.
The recent Google Doodle was created by Los Angeles-based guest artist Loris Lora. She said that the Doodle features colors inspired by Latin-American textiles, and the orchid, which the nurse often wore at nursing conferences. As Lora's sister recently became a nurse, she urged people to learn more about Murillo-Rohde and her achievements.
"I felt very honored and excited to take on such a special project," she told Google. "I love highlighting minority women who have helped their community and have made a big change for women of similar backgrounds."
The National Hispanic Heritage Month runs every year from September 15 to October 15. The one-month period acknowledges and celebrates the Hispanic Americans — specifically their cultures and contributions. Google has previously dedicated its Doodles to Puerto Rican civil rights pioneer Felicitas Mendez, Mexican American botanist Ynes Mexia and baseball great and humanitarian Roberto Clemente.
