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Florence Nightingale is known globally as the "Lady with the Lamp" for her work as a nurse during the Crimean War. A principal founder of the modern profession of nursing, Nightingale was also a healthcare pioneer. Her impact in nursing and social care cannot be underestimated and her work remains as relevant to modern-day healthcare practices as it's ever been. So why does Florence Nightingale still matter?
Click through and explore the life and legacy of one of the most influential women of the 19th-century.
Florence Nightingale was the single most important founder of the modern profession of nursing. She was also a healthcare pioneer and hospital reformer.
Nightingale was born into a wealthy family and studied a variety of subjects, including history, mathematics, languages, and literature. But what she yearned for most was to become a nurse. Her career choice met the disapproval of her mother and father—at the time, it was rare for moneyed women to work.
In 1844, Nightingale enrolled as a nursing student in a hospital in Germany. After returning to England, she read a report in The Times newspaper about the terrible conditions faced by soldiers during the Crimean War.
Moved by descriptions of the dreadful lack of cleanliness and the "appalling" smell in hospitals, she decided to travel to Crimea and help the wounded.
In November 1854, Florence Nightingale arrived in Scutari on the Black Sea. The city's Selimiye Barracks had been turned into a hospital. During her first winter at Scutari, 4,077 soldiers died there. Ten times more soldiers died from illnesses such as typhus, typhoid, cholera, and dysentery than from battle wounds.
Nightingale called for more nurses and eventually headed a staff numbering 38. They were shocked by what they saw. Medicines were in short supply, and hygiene was all but neglected.
They immediately started to clean every room, and Nightingale told her nurses to wash their hands often. She called on the Sanitary Commission to flush out the sewers that ran under the barracks and improve ventilation. In time, Nightingale and her nurses reduced the death rate from 42% to 2%.
Nightingale returned to England from the Crimea a heroine. The "Lady with the Lamp," a nickname given to her by a journalist after her habit of wandering the darkened corridors at night checking on patients guided only by lamplight, benefited from a fund set up in her name so she could continue her work.
Florence Nightingale campaigned for medical reforms for the rest of her life, and in particular, brought in changes to improve the health of the British army.
Nightingale set out her ideas in a book called 'Notes on Nursing.' This is seen by many historians as setting out some of the key principles in developing the nursing profession. She died on August 13, 1910, her passing making national and international headlines.
By the time Nightingale died in 1910, there were over 60,000 properly trained nurses in Britain. Nursing became a highly skilled and well-respected profession thanks to the woman known as The Lady with the Lamp. The contribution to nursing and public health reform made by Florence Nightingale and its relevance today cannot be understated.
Hand washing is the single most effective means of infection control we know of. Florence Nightingale began urging its practice in 1860.
In the same year, 1860, Nightingale established a nursing training school at St Thomas' Hospital in London. The nursing school at the hospital was named after her, and it is now part of King's College, London.
Nightingale strived to create nursing as an independent profession. Nurses would take medical instructions from doctors, but no doctor would hire, fire, discipline, or promote a nurse. These would be decisions made only by senior nursing staff.
Nightingale's vision for the profession included a career path—a component of employment quite radical for the day. She outlined the need for increases in salary and responsibility to make nursing a desirable and well-paid profession.
Besides arguing for good salaries and working conditions for nurses, Nightingale insisted on vacations of at least one month per year, good living conditions during training, and a decent pension.
She even went as far as to voice her opinion on hospital design to save nurses' energy for patient care. Hospital design today focuses on creating functional, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly spaces for patient well-being and efficiency in operations.
Given the unhygienic conditions she worked in at Selimiye Barracks during the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale demanded that hospitals hire cleaners, with nurses ensuring that the job was done properly. Sanitation practices, such as regular cleaning and disinfection of surfaces, equipment, and patient rooms, are essential in preventing the spread of infections.
In Nightingale's time, army nurses were recruited from among the wives and widows of regular combatants and non-commissioned officers. Doctors were always officers. They were paid less than cooks and most other domestic servants, and reported to a sergeant.
Nightingale succeeded in improving the status of nurses, from being a "domestic" service occupation in the 1861 Census, to being grouped with "medicine" in 1901.
In an age when all doctors were male and all nurses female, Nightingale worked to address the imbalance. Hers was an unspoken measure to prevent sexual harassment of vulnerable women nurses.
Nightingale is considered a pioneer in the advancement of occupational health and safety. Throughout her life, she worked with doctors, architects, engineers, and statisticians to achieve significant and long-lasting reforms.
Interestingly, during her time in Crimea, Nightingale devised a way to record and compare information on casualties and the impact of poor hospital conditions. This was called a rose diagram and is similar to a pie chart. This method is still used today by statisticians to compare data.
The mid-19th century in Victorian Britain was a period known for the notorious institutions called workhouses. They were intended to provide work and shelter for poverty-stricken people who had no means to support themselves. The infirmaries that served these establishments were little more than refuges for the sick and elderly. Nightingale helped turn these workhouses into hospitals.
In 1929, new legislation was introduced that allowed local authorities to take over workhouses as hospitals, calling for the same quality of care available to the rich to be provided for the poor. The following year, all workhouses were officially closed.
Nightingale's principles and support helped to found the British Red Cross in 1870 and keep it going. She championed one of the Red Cross' fundamental principles: neutrality.
In 1912, the International Committee of the Red Cross instituted the Florence Nightingale Medal. It is the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve and is awarded to nurses or nursing aides who display exceptional courage and devotion to victims of armed conflict or natural disasters. Pictured is a medal ceremony in Tokyo, Japan.
When people in the United States of America qualify as nurses, they take the Nightingale Pledge at pinning ceremonies, where newly qualified nurses are welcomed into the profession.
The Nightingale Society promotes knowledge of the great contribution to nursing and public health reform made by Florence Nightingale and its relevance today.
Florence Nightingale's birthday, May 12, is now known as the International Day of Nursing. It's an occasion to collectively reflect on the immeasurable value of nurses and the work they do worldwide.
Sources: (Nightingale Society) (BBC) (Red Cross) (Historic UK)
See also: Nurse: one of the world's most impactful professions.
What is Florence Nightingale's impact on healthcare?
May 12 is the International Day of Nursing
LIFESTYLE Health
Florence Nightingale is known globally as the "Lady with the Lamp" for her work as a nurse during the Crimean War. A principal founder of the modern profession of nursing, Nightingale was also a healthcare pioneer. Her impact in nursing and social care cannot be underestimated and her work remains as relevant to modern-day healthcare practices as it's ever been. So why does Florence Nightingale still matter?
Click through and explore the life and legacy of one of the most influential women of the 19th century.