Julita Villaruel Sotejo
Nurse Educator, Lawyer, & Change Agent
Julita Villaruel Sotejo, born in 1906, was a hidden figure who explored the boundaries of nursing through thought-provoking leadership, perpetual learning, advocacy for the profession, and academic excellence. Although nursing was only pursued as a means of funding her preferred law career path, her life is a model for nursing excellence. Sotejo attended the Philippine General Hospital School of Nursing and graduated as valedictorian in 1929. Her critical assessment of hospital training school flaws served as the framework for what would become the current model of nursing education in the Philippines. She enrolled in the Philippine Law School in 1932 to acquire knowledge outside of nursing, gain prestige, and prepare herself to argue for the multiple dimensions of nursing. She again graduated as valedictorian and went on to become the Principal of Philippine General Hospital School of Nursing until 1941. In 1941 Sotejo accepted a Rockefeller Foundation nursing administration fellowship and studied in Canada and the U.S. between 1941 and 1943, including at Yale University School of Nursing. She also attended the University of Chicago, graduating with a Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration in 1943.
Sotejo challenged the established values and racial hierarchy of American nursing, while simultaneously transforming the view of professional nursing education across the globe. Upon returning to the Philippines in 1945, her master’s thesis served as a roadmap for establishing a direct entry baccalaureate nursing program in 1948. The University of Philippines program, where Sotejo served as the Dean from 1948–1970, was the first of its kind and provided the structural framework for future baccalaureate entry nursing programs throughout the Philippines. Sotejo served as the president of the Philippine Nurses Association from 1948–1954. At a meeting of the Grand Council of the International Council of Nurses meeting in 1947, she spoke so eloquently about racial injustice and the hypocrisy of omitting invitations to Black nurses that she earned enough votes to become one of the ten members on the education committee, despite no intention to run for office. She held this office from 1947 to 1957. Sotejo earned a number of accolades across the span of her life including a Certificate of Merit in Nursing in 1955, the Florence Nightingale Medal in 1961, and the Gusi Peace Prize in 2003. She also earned her Doctorate of Law in 1991, at the age of 85. Sotejo died in 2003, leaving a legacy of excellence in nursing through her contribution to developing educated, cultured, and unafraid nurses who will continue to carry the torch of change for the greater good, in the Philippines and across the world.
Further Reading
To learn more about nursing education in the Philippines, read here.
Learn about the Philippine Nurse Association of America here.
Honor the Philippine healthcare workers who have died in the pandemic here.
To support Asian Americans for Equality, click here.
Sources
We sourced the above information from OJIN, Facebook, & SCRIBD.
Learn More
To learn more about inclusion in nursing and be part of the national discussion to address racism in nursing, check out and share the following resources:
Know Your History
- Nursing CLIO to engage with historians and scholars committed to deep work around historical accuracy in healthcare and nursing.
- American Association for the History of Nursing to attend monthly webinars on topics of nursing history, view the calendar here.
Examine Bias
- NurseManifest to attend live zoom sessions with fellow nurses on nursing’s overdue reckoning on racism or to sign their pledge.
- Breaking Bias in Healthcare, an online course created by scientist Anu Gupta, to learn how bias is related to our brain’s neurobiology and can be mitigated with mindfulness.
- Revolutionary Love Learning Hub provides free tools for learners and educators to use love as fuel towards ourselves, our opponents, and to others so that we can embody a world where we see no strangers.
Support & Advocate
- National Coalition for Ethnic Minority Nurse Association to stay engaged with topics relevant to nurses of color.
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