Florence Nightingale was one of the most influential women in medical history. She is considered to be the mother of nursing.
She was born on May 12, 1820 in a Villa Colomaia in Florence, Italy. Like her sister, Pathenope, she was named after the place of her birth.
Florence Nightingale's family was a rich, upper class, well-connected British family. Her parents were William Edward and Frances Nightengale.
As she grew up at her family home of Embley Park, she became affluent as an English nurse, writer, and statistician. In 1837 she found her Christian divine calling while living at Embley Park.
She decided to pursue a career in nursing. Her family was very angry with her at first because of this decision.
Her mother disapproved in particular that she was not following the expected role for a refined English woman as a wife and mother. However, despite the restrictions of being a woman in an English society, she pursued her dreams.
Nightengale educated herself in nursing and cared for the poor. By 1844 she had become one of the strongest influences pushing for improved medical care and hospitals.
She also pushed politically for a reform of all of the Poor Laws, and not only those associated with medicine. At one point in her life, Florence even considered leaving some money in her will to fund a chair for statistics at the University of Oxford.
In August 22, 1853 Florence Nightengale became the superintendent of the Institute for the Care of Sick Gentle Women in London. Here she began mentoring others in the art and science of nursing.
By this time her father had become more supportive of her and sent her money to live off of while pursuing her career. Her mentor in nursing was James Joseph Sylvestor.
She had several romantic interests, the first of which was Richard Milnes. Richard Milnes was a 1st Baron, a politician and poet.
However, to her mother's dismay she felt that marrying him would hinder her abilities as a nurse. Later she met Sidney Herbert.
Sidney Herbert was also a politician and a secretary of war. He was already married, but they became good friends and influenced each other's work.
Finally, she met Benjamin Jowett. They became very good friends and developed a very strong and intimate relationship.
Florence Nightengale's most famous work derives from the Crimean War. In October of 1854 she heard of the poor medical conditions the soldiers were dealing with.
Nightengale and her staff of 38 other women volunteered to go to Turkey to care for the soldiers and improve the conditions as best they could. She quickly became known as the "Lady with the Lamp" for the rounds she would make among the sick at night.
That winter the soldiers deaths continued to rise because of poor sanitation and ventilation of the hospital facilities. When she began collecting reports for the Royal Commission on the Health of the Army she discovered that the soldiers were dying because of the poor sanitation and ventilation.
From then on, a smaller percentage of soldiers died as they were able to improve the conditions of the hospitals. In addition to this discovery Florence Nightengale founded the first official training program for nurses in 1860.
Her curriculum included material covering working in the hospitals, working with the poor, and how to teach. She supported her school with the book she wrote Notes on Nursing.
Nightengale's school still functions today at Kings College in London. The pledges that new nurses take today was named after this miraculous, strong woman. Today, International Nurses Day is celebrated on May 12, which is Florence Nightengale's birthday.
Florence Nightengale's example of commitment to patient care and the poor, compassion, diligence, and proper hospital administration founded nursing as we know it today. She has inspired many women to follow in her footsteps.
Author Resource:
Tom Selwick has worked as a traveling nurse for the last 16 years. He has worked in many local clinics and the ER and recommends looking into becoming a travel nursing
.
Contact Info:
Tom Selwick
TomSelwick09@gmail.com
http://www.ProfessionalNurse.com
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