Florence Nightingale

1820–1910

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE

Florence Nightingale was born into an upper class, well connected family, but horrified her parents by choosing to become a nurse, which at the time, was considered a lower-class occupation. She made this decision out of religious conviction, and refused a proposal of marriage from an eminent politician in order to follow her calling. She attended a school of nursing in Germany, and there learned a great deal about sanitation and proper nursing procedures. She initially worked in a charitable hospital for women but when the Crimean War broke out, offered her services to the British army, and used her political connections to secure resources.

In 1854 Nightingale left with 38 volunteer nurses to work at a military hospital in Scutari the Crimean. The conditions there were atrocious and a very high percentage of the men there died of disease rather than battle wounds. It took nearly six month to make any progress in the conditions, but after thoroughly cleaning the facilities, and providing for sanitary sewers, ventilation, and clean supplies, the death rate at the hospital dropped dramatically. Nightingale's personal behavior and commitment was also exemplary. She frequently worked twenty hour days, and took charge of every aspect of the hospital where the comfort of the soldiers could be improved. When she returned to Britain her reputation preceded her, and she received a hero's welcome.

Florence Nightingale was now the most trusted person in England to dictate changes to medical systems and used her influence to help draft new regulations and procedures, not only for military hospitals, but for many state-sponsored hospitals for the poor as well. She founded a medical college for nurses and wrote books and pamphlets on nursing. She continued to work as a nurse and a nursing advocate until she became incapacitated at the age of 76. She died in 1910.

Key events during the life of Florence Nightingale:

Year	Event
1820	Birth of Florence Nightingale
1845	Florence decides to become an nurse.
1846	Visited German school nursing
1851	Rejected proposal of marriage and attended nursing school
1853	Worked as a nurse at a hospital in London
1854	Volunteered for service in the Crimean War.
1855	Insisted on improvements to sanitation and patient care
1857	Returned to England. Worked on a report to the Royal Commission.
1859	Received a government grant to open a school of nursing.
1860	Published Notes on Nursing.
1869	Opened the first Women's Medical College.
1896	Became an invalid
1910	Death of Florence Nightingale

Other Resources

Story Links	Book Links
Florence Nightingale  in	Cambridge Historical Reader—Primary  by  Cambridge Press
The Lady-in-Chief  in	Red Book of Heroes  by  Mrs. Andrew Lang
Victoria—War  in	Our Island Story  by  H. E. Marshall
Florence Nightingale  in	Great Englishwomen  by  M. B. Synge
Crimean War  in	Growth of the British Empire  by  M. B. Synge
Fall of Sebastopol  in	The Reign of Queen Victoria  by  M. B. Synge

Book Links
Florence Nightingale  by  Laura Richards

Image Links
Florence Nightingale at Scutari  in Cambridge Historical Reader—Primary	Roger could hardly believe his eyes.  in Red Book of Heroes	Tell me what you want to say, and I will say it.'  in Red Book of Heroes
Miss Florence Nightingale  in The Reign of Queen Victoria

Contemporary	Short Biography
Sidney Herber	Secretary of War during the Crimean War, and supporter of Nightingale.
Elizabeth Blackwell	First female doctor in the United States. Worked with Florence Nightingale.
Lord Raglan	Field Marshall of English Forces during the Crimean War.