Cordelia Hoeflin served as Director of the Training School for Nurses from May 1933 to January 1946. In 1928, Hoeflin began working at Riley Hospital for Children as Assistant Superintendent of Nurses. She served in this position until 1930, at which time she left to complete coursework in hospital administration. Hoeflin returned to IU in May 1933 as the new Director of the Training School for Nurses.
Hoeflin led the Training School for Nurses through the Great Depression and World War II. During this time, she increased entrance requirements to include one year of college work (1937) and maintained former director Ethel Clarke's strict sense of discipline among students. In 1941 the Training School for Nurses appeared on the first list of accredited school of nursing sponsored by the National League of Nursing Education.
During World War II, the Federal Government established the United States Cadet Nurse Corps in order to address a shortage of trained nurses at home and on the war front. This voluntary program provided funds to nurses' training programs in order to increase the number of students they could educate. Hoeflin successfully implemented changes at the IU Training School for Nurses in order to boost enrollments without compromising quality of education. Hoeflin left the training school in January 1946 due to her impending marriage.
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