[3] Dolan earned her nursing diploma from St. John's Hospital in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1935.

She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing from Boston University in 1942 and 1950.

[1] Dolan also served on the board of directors for several professional associations, including the National League for Nursing.

[1] She received the League's first Distinguished Service Award in 1972 and was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 2012.

[6] Dolan authored the seminal textbook, Nursing in Society: A Historical Perspective.