Nightingale's Reform And Career As A Nurse In British Hospitals

Florence Nightingale was the founder for nursing. Even though Nightingale’s family was against the career of nursing, she pursued her passion of learning to care for the ill. She strived to help the people sick and in need. Nightingale showed her caring heart when she helped cure soldiers during the Crimean War. She showed her compassion as she helped the wounded soldiers from the battlefield. Over time, Nightingale noticed the unsanitary conditions at the base hospital. Since the conditions were extremely unsanitary, Nightingale recorded the mortality rate of the soldiers. According to her data, the soldiers hospitalized were seven times more likely to pass away from unsanitary environments rather than injuries from the

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.

It can be concluded that Nightingales lengthy nursing experience, her environmental theory, philosophical writings and actions have had a huge impact how health care is seen today. Her many achievements, renowned recognition, and life’s work has changed the nursing role from a lowly position to highly valued career. The environmental theory has changed the way that the hospital setting is viewed from a place that was once avoided due to the high mortality rate to a place of physical and emotional

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.

Nightingale found the conditions of the hospitals appalling. The men were kept in rooms without blankets or decent food. Unwashed, they were still wearing their army uniforms, "still with dirt and gore". In these conditions, Florence was not surprised that war wounds accounted for one out of every six deaths in the war. Diseases such at typhus, chorea, and dysentery ran rampant among the wounded soldiers.

“In these conditions, it was not surprising that in army hospitals, war wounds only accounted for one death in six. Diseases such as typhus, cholera, and dysentery were the main reasons why the death rate was so high amongst wounded soldiers” (Spartacus, 2011, ¶ 10). Nightingale went on to establish sanitary guidelines to improve nursing quality, statistical ways of obtaining data, and most importantly environmental factors to improve patient quality. What we know of Florence Nightingale is that although she was born into a wealthy family, she had a different drive in her life towards helping other humans. Nightingale demonstrated pure altruism, but why? What constitutes for her behaviors and traits, there must be a key to unlocking the personality development of Florence Nightingale.

If Nightingale were alive today, she would find it strange hospitals exist at all. She regarded them as belonging to a stage of "imperfect civilization", and envisaged their end by the year 2000. Florence would have understood the growth of the primary care movement. Having its roots in her own work, she would have been alarmed by the conditions of acute care evident in some hospitals today. High bed-occupancy rates, the poor hygiene, and the lack of space and of privacy .All of which go against the central tenets of her writings.

Imagine a room in a hospital; you are lying on a bed, with linens since your admission, the room is very cold and dark at the same time, without proper ventilation. The bathroom you have does not have proper drainage; outside environment is as noisy as having a construction site as a neighbor. Health care providers come in just for the job and merely not care about you; their hands are not even clean and washed. Imagine these kinds of situation, what kind of environment are you having? Do you a place to heal or a place to die? Since the beginning of Modern Nursing, these scenes are commonly practiced and are usual in a way that it is considered a normal place to rest and be taken care of.

(http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-17-2012/No1-Jan-2012/Florence-Nightingale-on-Advocacy.html) In 1854 Florence Nightingale was called upon to help in the Crimean war, she was demanded to take orders from male officials who were uneducated as nurses were mostly regarded as uneducated and unable to make decisions. She realised in this setting, infection was not being controlled as it was spreading throughout the wards. Conditions were also not being monitored so she recorded observations to do so and broke restrictions set by officials which reduced the death count and lead to the understanding that this was continuously needed by nurses to improve patient’s health.

“Around 300 A.D, during this time that the Empire sought to place a hospital within every town under its rule. As such, there were many “nurses” during that time that assisted in in-patient medical care within the newly created hospitals, alongside doctors. As the Roman empire became the Byzantine empire, they further innovated within the field by creating 2 fully-developed hospitals within the great city of Constantinople.” Although these nurses are not what the modern nursing 1standards and responsibilities are.Florence Nightingale helped to change the nature of the profession forever.Nightingale had observed most deaths were due to poor hygiene within the mid 19th century and had asked for and received aid from the British government that allowed for much better hygiene throughout the battlefield and nearby hospital.Nightingale had changed the idea of nursing when she associated nurses with general sanitation instead of helping hands they became prep. According to national data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment for registered nurses (RNs) is expected to increase 16% by 2024.Which is faster than the national

Florence Nightingale, the founder of the Red Cross, was an incredibly passionate and honestly one of the most influential women to ever live. Nightingale lived in a higher class than most, however she decided that she would rather spend the rest of her days saving and aiding illness bound individuals who needed and could benefit from her assistance the most. Florence Nightingale, did not always know that her destiny was to save lives until she received a message from and God. The message from God sparked an idea in Nightingale’s head, so she set out on a journey throughout Europe and made a few observations throughout her travels abroad.

Florence Nightingale impacted society and hospital conditions greatly. She is known for all the heroic acts she’s done and how much she was needed in her days. Florence changed the views of many in “an era when middle-class women were expected to simply make a good marriage and raise a family”. Florence didn’t allow these views of average women to limit her to advance like any other man in her days. Florence Nightingale was born in May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy.

Nightingales’ work did not go unnoticed, as she returned home to a letter from the Queen and a brooch designed by the Prince Consort. As the years went on, Florence’s health deteriorated, but that did not halt her work within the academic and political community. She wrote notes on her own titled: ‘Notes affecting the Health, Efficiency, and Hospital Administration of

As a young woman, Nightingale often accompanied her mother when she visited the sick. This inspired her to want to be a nurse, and against her parents’ wishes she entered a nurses’ training program. During the Crimean war she was asked by a family friend to come and care for the British soldiers at the army hospital. While there she witnessed filth, vermin, and death. Upon seeing the unsanitary conditions and the health risk to the soldiers she began her crusade to establish an environment that would promote health and healing. Thus: The Environmental Theory.