Florence Nightingale : The Lady With The Lamp, And The Mother Of Modern Nursing

Nightingale, F. (1860).Notes on nursing: what it is and what it is not. New York:D.Appleton And Company.

Florence Nightingale is known as the founder of modern nursing. Her contributions and influence not only to the nursing profession, but to the public health care system, is unparalleled. She was instrumental in establishing multiple processes and practices that are still in current practice. She has influenced many nursing theorist and prevailing theories during her career. Many of her changes continue to influence theory development today.

Florence Nightingale was an immense impact on nursing, who “became famous for her revolutionary work as a nurse during the Crimean War” (Kent 30). “She dedicated her life to improving conditions in hospitals, beginning in an army hospital during the Crimean War,” (3 Registered). Her actions were then used by “concerned individuals, rather than by professionally trained nurses” during the Civil War, (Registered 279). Many of Nightingale’s ideas were brought into modern times, but with the improvement of technology and licensed nurses. With the influence and patience of Florence Nightingale, nursing has evolved into an outstanding career.

Florence Nightingale is known as the pioneer of nursing and evidence- based health care. Many believe that she was the founder of what we call modern nursing today. During her time as a nurse she had founded her school of nursing at St. Thomas Hospital in 1860 as well she wrote many nursing books such as Notes on Nursing wrote in

Firstly, Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy on the 12th of May in 1820. She had a very wealthy family. When Florence was sixteen years old on February 7, 1837, she heard the voice of God calling her to carry out some special work. As she had the want to help people, she was lead to believe that God wanted her to be a nurse. Being a nurse was unusual for the upper class because nurses were known to come from poor families. The want of becoming a nurse never went away so she went to Kaiserwerth to nurse training (James).

Florence Nightingale was the younger of two children in her family, her mother was Frances Nightingale and her father was William Shore Nightingale. As a young child Florence was very active in philanthropy, she helped the ill and the poor people in her village. By the age sixteen is was clear to her that nursing had been her calling. When she approached her parents with her divine purpose in life her parents were not pleased, in fact her parents forbade her to purse nursing. In her social standing girls her age were accepted to marry a man not takes up a job. At seventeen she declined a marriage proposal and explained her reasoning to her parents. Despite her parents’ objections, in 1844, Nightingale enrolled as a nursing student at the Lutheran

Florence Nightingale is considered the founder of modern nursing. She also created the first educational system for nurses. Prior to Nightingale’s nursing education program, there was no formal preparation or organized training programs for nurses. Nursing was not recognized as an academic discipline (Alligood, 2014, p. 6). Nursing care was provided by the family, nuns and religious servants, or self-trained women who were held in low regard by society. Nursing was considered domestic work and not a profession. “Nightingale revolutionized and professionalized nursing by stressing that nursing was not a domestic, charitable service but a respected occupation requiring advanced education” (Black, 2014, p. 134). In 1860, the Nightingale School of Nursing, at St. Thomas Hospital in London, was established for the education of professional nurses. This nursing program differed from earlier programs in that nursing students received theory classes along with clinical experiences in the hospital. “Nightingale emphasized the need to blend a mixture of theoretical and clinical experiences as part of the educational package” (Selanders, 2010, p. 84). They used a specific curriculum that ensured that the students would receive training in the various aspects of nursing care for

People may wonder who established nursing, led efforts to improve the standards of care, and education of nursing for the future. Would the medical profession be this far in its studies, development, and care without the person who improved it? Without Florence Nightingale, the nursing profession would not be as far developed as it has become. Nightingale is known to be self-sacrificing, caring, devout, and passionate because of her dedication to change the care in hospitals and the battlefield for the better and overall improved the nursing profession dramatically. Florence Nightingale strove to improve the care for others and to advance the education of nursing up until the end of her life.

In the year 1844, Florence had enrolled at Lutheran Hospital of Pastor Fliedner in Germany. She was pursuing her real calling, despite her parent’s disapproval of the situation. After her schooling, Florence made her way to a Middlesex hospital in the 1850’s where she acquired a nursing job. Florence was determined to develop hygiene practices at Middlesex, doing this would cut back the death toll.

She had a staff full of women volunteer nurses that she trained, along with several catholic nuns. When they arrived, Florence and her team were appalled by the poor care the wounded soldiers were receiving. Hygiene was being abandoned which of course is a huge issue especially for Florence, their medications were in short supply, and infections were running rapid among the patients, many of them being lethal. Nightingale and her amazing team decreased the death rate from 42% down to 2% mainly by making improvements with hygiene. Florence was known as the ‘Lady with the lamp’ As quoted 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.

She said that she heard God calling her to be a nurse. She helped the ill in her village. At the age of 16 It became clear to Florence that nursing was her calling in life. In those times becoming a nurse was looked down upon especially a women with Florence's social statues. People expected her to marry a man and run a home not become a nurse. Florence actually turned down a marriage proposal when she was 17 from a man named Richard Monckton Milnes. When Florence told her parents she wanted to become a nurse they actually forbade her. In 1844 she told her parents she was enrolling in the Lutheran hospital of Pastor Fliedner in Kaiserswerth, Germany. At this hospital she worked really hard to teacher self the art and science of

Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy on May 12, 1820. She came from a family which belonged to affluent social elite circles. By the time she was 16 years old, it was clear to her that nursing was her mission, it was her divine purpose. However, when Florence expressed her desire to her parents, they were not satisfied. They actually forbade her to pursue nursing. Someone of Florence’s “social stature was expected to marry a man of means, not take up a job that was viewed as lowly menial labor by the upper social classes.” (Bio., 2014) At the age of 17, Florence declined the proposal of a “suitable gentleman” saying that while he stimulated her intellectually and romantically, her "moral…active nature…requires satisfaction,

There are over 3.1 registered nurses worldwide making nursing the most employed healthcare job in the world (Nursing Fact Sheet, 2011). Starting as early as 300 A.D, nurses have held the enormous responsibility to care for the ill and wounded (The History of Nursing, 2016). Nursing has gone through significant changes since this time, evolving from an assistant role solely for women to an independent profession for direct patient care with numerous specialties and outlets. This change could not have occurred without the significant influence of one woman: Florence Nightingale. Accelerated by her Christian faith, Florence Nightingale revolutionized the realm of nursing by introducing and improving nursing standards and beginning the very first secular nursing school; this influence established Nightingale as an advocate for women’s rights, specifically in the workplace, and an inspiration to future nurses everywhere, including myself.

As reform changed the way in which medicine was implemented, the first official nursing school was established—the Kaiserwerth Deaconess Institute. One of its infamous students, Florence Nightingale, became known as the mother of Modern Nursing. Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. She was the younger of two children. Nightingale's affluent British family belonged to elite social circles. From a very young age, Florence Nightingale was active in philanthropy, ministering to the ill and poor people in the village neighboring her family’s estate. By the time she was 16 years old, it was clear to her that nursing was her calling. She believed it to be her divine purpose. In late 1854, Nightingale received a letter from Secretary of War Sidney Herbert, asking her to organize a corps of nurses to tend to the sick and fallen soldiers in the Crimea. During the Crimean War (18540-1856), Nightingale arrived in Scutari, Turkey, the location of the British camp outside of Constantinople. The physician’s placed there did not originally welcome the incoming female nurses, but as the number of patients started to increase, help was needed. The hospital became overcrowded, undersupplied and unsanitary. Although, the arrival of Nightingale changed the way which the profession of nursing was carried out. She became known for providing personal care to her patients who not only aided them physically but comforted them psychologically. Florence Nightingale spent her night rounds giving personal care to the wounded, establishing her image as the 'Lady with the Lamp.' Under Nightingale’s leadership, the nurses brought cleanliness, sanitation, nutritious food and comfort to the wounded patients. As a result of their unwavering dedication to better the hospital condition, the death rate among the patients fell dramatically. When Nightingale returned

Florence Nightingale, a well-educated nurse, was recruited along with 38 other nurses for service in a hospital called Scutari during the Crimean War in 1854 . It was Nightingale's approaches to nursing that produced amazing results. Florence Nightingale was responsible for crucial changes in hospital protocol, a new view on the capabilities and potential of women, and the creation of a model of standards that all future nurses could aspire towards.