Marie Manthey

Marie Schuber Manthey (1935 to 2024) was an American nurse, author and businesswoman who is counted among the originators of primary nursing, a system of nursing care delivery in which one registered nurse accepts responsibility for the care of a small group of patients for the length of their stay. She trained at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Chicago, graduating with a nursing diploma in 1956, and worked as a staff nurse, assistant head nurse and head nurse at the University of Chicago Medical Center before taking degrees in nursing administration at the University of Minnesota. As assistant director of nursing at the University of Minnesota Hospital she led the team of nurses that put primary nursing into practice on Unit 32, an acute medical ward, in 1968 and 1969, flattening the old supervisory hierarchy so that bedside nurses made their own decisions and spoke directly with physicians. Later she directed nursing at Miller Hospital in Saint Paul, served as vice president of patient services at Yale New Haven Hospital, and in 1978 founded the consulting firm now known as Creative HealthCare Management. The American Academy of Nursing named her a Living Legend in 2015. She died on 12 December 2024.