Page "Sposition. "Out of a class of 40 students her and two other white women were the only ones to receive their degree. It is presumed that the administration accepted Mahoney, despite not meeting the age criteria, because of her connection to the hospital through prior work as a cook, maid, and washerwoman there when she was 18 years old. Mahoney worked nearly 16 hours daily for the 15 years that she worked as a laborer.Mahoney's training required she spend at least one year in the hospital's various wards to gain universal nursing knowledge. The work within [the program" not found :(