Florence Nightingale: The First Nurse
As the Crimean War raged on, wounded British soldiers found themselves living in miserable conditions. More soldiers would die from diseases like typhus, cholera, and dysentery than actual injuries sustained from their battles. The arrival of Florence Nightingale would alter the fate of many suffering young men, and her experiences would lead her to establish the modern profession of nursing.
Although Florence Nightingale was born into a wealthy British family, her first name came from the city of her birth: Florence, Italy. She benefited greatly from her father’s progressive views on women’s education, studying topics such as history, mathematics, and philosophy. He also introduced her to Mary Clarke, who showed Florence that women could be equal to men and fostered a spark of creativity that would help her throughout her life. Florence’s early experiences inspired her to pursue a career as a nurse, but since affluent English women were expected to become wives and mothers, her mother and sister strongly opposed her decision. Regardless, she worked and studied hard to become the best nurse she could be.
Florence’s perseverance would soon pay off, as she would eventually be sent to aid injured British soldiers in the Crimean War. Arriving at Selimiye Barracks, she was dismayed by how the wounded were being treated. Exhausted medical staff working with a short supply of medications and an utter disregard for hygiene led to many unnecessary deaths. Florence made many changes to improve the hygiene of the barracks, most importantly of which involved implementing handwashing in the hospital she worked in, and sent reports to the British government asking for help with the unfolding disaster. In addition, she was one of the first to use visual statistics to help illustrate mortality rates for British soldiers; many of the medical infographics that she published would help advancements in sanitation for colonial India and England. Aid from the British government would eventually come to address the issues that Florence reported, and as a result of Florence’s actions, she reduced the death rate of soldiers in the barracks from 42% to a staggering 2%. It is also during this time that Florence earned the nickname “Lady with the Lamp,” as when other medical officials slept during the night, she would be seen alone checking up on wounded soldiers with a lamp in her hand.
After the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale was recognized as a hero. The changes she implemented in the Selimiye Barracks would influence medical treatment throughout the British Empire, and eventually the entire world. Yet that was not the end of her influence on our world today. The Nightingale Fund, created for the training of nurses, would be used by Florence to establish the very first nursing school: the Nightingale Training School, established in 1860. She would also write Notes on Nursing, which served as the basis for the education of nursing schools around the world including her own. Linda Richards, one of Florence’s students, would become America’s first trained nurse and go on to establish nursing schools in the United States and Japan. To sum up her postwar work, she was the founder of modern nursing.
To recognize Florence Nightingale’s work, many honors were established with her name. For one, International Nurses Day is celebrated on Florence’s birthday (May 12) every year. The Red Cross also instituted the Florence Nightingale Medal as the highest international distinction a nurse can receive. Additionally, in the United States, new nurses recite the Nightingale Pledge at their pinning ceremonies. We can safely conclude that Florence Nightingale will be remembered as the first modern nurse for a long, long time.
Written by Brian Kim, Edited by Koushik Chennakesavan
