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Florence Nightingale Research Paper

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On the front lines of battle in 1854, she did not combat the enemies of Britain, but instead an adversary of even more titanic strength. She opposed the diseases and anguishes of the war which held the soldiers captive in infirm, powerless bodies. With incredible boldness, she championed the right of the soldiers to breathe once more untroubled by afflictions. Because of her pursuit to relieve human suffering, she rescued a countless number of individuals through her reforms of preventive sanitation and effective treatments in civilian and military hospitals. Florence Nightingale was a woman of compassion and courage whose commitment always transcended self, and through her legacy reclaimed the numerous lives both in her present day and in …show more content…

After being honored by the monarch of the United Kingdom, she asked Queen Victoria, to lead an investigation into the state of healthcare facilities in the army. In the course of this inquiry, Nightingale discovered “16,000 of the 18,000 deaths were not due to battle wounds but to preventable diseases, spread by poor sanitation” (bbc.co.uk) in the Crimean War. Enraged at the fact that such a massive number of deaths could have been averted, she resolved to communicate her findings to the public. Throughout her life, Nightingale authored works regarding her conclusions and experiences such as Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army, Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not and Notes on Hospitals. When the Indian Army became entangled in the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, Nightingale immediately became engaged in the situation. Intrigued by the unhygienic circumstances the military may face, she personally reached out to assist the people of India. Because of her influence “a sanitary department was established in the Indian government….and demanded that there should be improvements in health and sanitation there” (victorianweb.org). Additionally, she founded the Nightingale School & Home for Nurses at St. Thomas's Hospital to allow more opportunities for individuals to become nurses. Though her life after the Crimean War was filled with accomplishments, it was not without struggle. During the war, Nightingale contracted Crimean fever, “a tick borne virus” (cdc.org), and battled with the disease for the remainder of her life. Yet she continued to be an influential figure in the field of healthcare until her death in

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