FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 1820-2020 - Bradford Grammar School
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FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
1820-2020
Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 in Italy. Her parents were William Edward Nightingale and
Frances “Fanny” Nightingale. The Nightingale’s were a rich, well-connected British family. Florence had one
sister, Frances (Frances Parthenope Verney).
Mrs. Frances Nightingale with her daughters Parthe and Florence
Florence received a classical education at Lea Hurst which included German, Italian and French. As early as
age 16, Florence had a strong interest in caring for the sick. She knew her calling was nursing. There was no
doubt to her that this was her divine calling.
Lea Hurst, the Nightingale family name for its first and then later summer home
Career
Pursuing a career in nursing was looked down upon by the society at that time, especially for someone with
an affluent background. After much opposition, Florence announced her decision to enter the field in 1844.
She enrolled herself as a student at the Lutheran Hospital of Pastor Fliedner in Kaiserwerth, Germany.
Kaiserswerth Institute of Lutheran Deaconesses in Dusseldorf. Florence worked there for 3 months in 1851
She then worked hard to educate herself in the art and science of nursing. On her trips to Egypt and Paris,
she realized that disciplined and well- organized nuns or sisters made better nurses than women in England.
When she returned home, she started visiting hospitals in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin. In 1853, she was
appointed Superintendent of the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewoman.
In 1853 she accepted her first administrative post when she became superintendent of the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen.
In October 1853, the Crimean War broke out. Many British soldiers were sent to the front and by 1854
around 18000 soldiers were injured and admitted into military hospitals. In a letter from the Secretary of
War, Sidney Herbert, Florence Nightingale was requested to bring her nurses and tend to the soldiers. She
and Sidney Herbert later became good friends.
Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea, statesman, Secretary of War during the Crimean War
She assembled a team of more than 30 nurses and sailed to Crimea immediately. The condition of the
soldiers there was much worse than expected
Map: Crimean War (1853-1856)
Scutari, Istanbul
When they reached Scutari, the soldiers were in a horrible state due to the lack of proper sanitation and
unhygienic surroundings. The medicine supply was little, and the death rate was on an all-time high.
Nightingale quickly got to work and tried to lower the death rate. Apart from the basic sanitary precautions,
she also improved the quality of their stay in the hospital.
Florence Nightingale during the Crimea War
The war was over by March 1856. An estimated 94000 men were sent to the war front, out of which almost
4000 died of battle wounds, 19000 died of diseases and 13000 were invalidated out of the Army. Florence
returned to England as a national hero, but she was deeply shocked by the mass death that took place right
before her eyes because of poor sanitation. Therefore, she was determined to begin a campaign that would
improve the quality of nursing in military hospitals. She started investigating before the Royal Commission on
the Health of the Army and that resulted in the formation of the Army Medical College. In 1855, the
Nightingale fund was set up to open a training school for nurses. By 1860, £50,000 had been collected and
The Nightingale School and Home for Nurses was established at St. Thomas Hospital.
St Thomas’ Hospital, London, home of the Nightingale Training School for nurses. Reproduced courtesy of the Florence
Nightingale Museum
The first trained Nightingale nurses began work on 16 May 1865 at the Liverpool Workhouse Infirmary. Now
called the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, the school is part of King’s College London.
She also campaigned and raised funds for the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital in Aylesbury near her sister’s
home, Claydon House.
Outspoken writings by the founder of modern nursing record fundamentals in the needs of the sick that must be provided in all
nursing. Covers such timeless topics as ventilation, noise, food, bed and bedding, light, cleanliness, and observation of the sick.
“Still the finest book on nursing.” — Co-Evolution Quarterly.
Nightingale wrote Notes on Nursing (1859). The book served as the cornerstone of the curriculum at the
Nightingale School and other nursing schools, though it was written specifically for the education of those
nursing at home. Nightingale wrote “Every day sanitary knowledge, or the knowledge of nursing, or in other
words, of how to put the constitution in such a state as that it will have no disease, or that it can recover
from disease, takes a higher place. It is recognized as the knowledge which everyone ought to have – distinct
from medical knowledge, which only a profession can have”
In 1883, Nightingale was awarded the Royal Red Cross by Queen Victoria
In 1904, she was appointed a Lady of Grace of the Order of St John (LGStJ). In 1907, she became the first
woman to be awarded the Order of Merit. In the following year she was given the Honorary Freedom of the
City of London.
During the Crimean war, Florence Nightingale gained the nickname “The Lady with the Lamp” from a phrase
in a report in The Times:
She is a ‘ministering angel’ without any exaggeration in these hospitals, and as her slender form glides quietly
along each corridor, every poor fellow’s face softens with gratitude at the sight of her. When all the medical
officers have retired for the night and silence and darkness have settled down upon those miles of prostrate
sick, she may be observed alone, with a little lamp in her hand, making her solitary rounds.
Death
On 13 August 1910, at the age of 90, she died peacefully in her sleep in her room at 10 South Street, Mayfair,
London. The offer of burial in Westminster Abbey was declined by her relatives and she is buried in the
graveyard at St. Margaret Church in East Wellow, Hampshire. She left a large body of work, including several
hundred notes which were previously unpublished.
Florence Nightingale’s grave in the churchyard of St Margaret’s Church, East Wellow.
Florence Nightingale had a substantial influence on nursing care during her lifetime and that influence
continues today.
Original “Florence Nightingale Pledge”
I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to
practice my profession faithfully.
I shall abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous and shall not take or knowingly administer any
harmful drug.
I shall do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession and will hold in confidence
all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice
of my calling.
I shall be loyal to my work and devoted towards the welfare of those committed to my careOn 24 March 2020, due to the outbreak of the Corona Virus pandemic the Secretary of State for Health and
Social Care in England, Matt Hancock, announced that the first of several temporary hospitals in England
would be in the ExCel London Conference Centre in the East End of London. It will initially have 500 beds but
has a 4,000-bed capacity across its two wards.
These hospitals have been named after, Florence Nightingale who came to prominence for nursing soldiers
during the Crimean War and is regarded as the founder of modern nursing. She was an iconic nursing leader
of her time and a pioneer for infection control.You can also read
