She made significant contributions in establishing a number of health institutions particularly in the field of nurse training.

[4] She later moved to Philadelphia, where she worked with Dr. Weir Mitchell as a private nurse, and specialized in nervous and mental illnesses.

[1] In 1884 she became the superintendent of the newly established St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where she laid the foundation for making it a training school for nurses.

She played an important role in establishing different health institutions including the New York State Nurses Association.

In 1889 she moved to Washington, D.C., where she established the training school for nurses at the Garfield Memorial Hospital, and became its administrator.