In 1940, Sams graduated from Jackson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, and received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from Barry College (now called Barry University).

[1] In the early 1950s, she implemented recommendations for the association's Economic Security Program, and assisted in the creation the Nurses Charitable Trust of FNA District 5 (Miami-Dade County).

[3] She was a major contributor in the "Nursing on the Move" campaign, which raised $2 million in support for the American Nurses Association's 1992 relocation from Kansas City, Missouri, to Washington, D.C.[2] Sams died on May 24, 1999.

She received an honorary doctorate in public service from Florida International University.

[1] Sams was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 2000.