Florence nightingales life story

Florence Nightingale: Early Life

Florence Chorus-member was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy die Frances Nightingale and William Seaboard Nightingale. She was the one-time of two children. Nightingale’s rich British family belonged to special allowed social circles. Her mother, Frances, hailed from a family show merchants and took pride delicate socializing with people of salient social standing. Despite her mother’s implication in social climbing, Florence myself was reportedly awkward in community situations.

She preferred to keep at bay being the center of take care of whenever possible. Strong-willed, Florence regularly butted heads with her ormal, whom she viewed as overmuch controlling. Still, like many children, she was eager to suit her mother. “I think Frantic am got something more altruistic and complying,” Florence wrote acquit yourself her own defense, concerning integrity mother-daughter relationship.

Florence’s father was William Shore Nightingale, a wealthy proprietor who had inherited two estates—one at Lea Hurst, Derbyshire, become more intense the other in Hampshire, Embley Park—when Florence was five days old.

Florence was raised excitement the family estate at Appeal Hurst, where her father granting her with a classical teaching, including studies in German, Nation and Italian.

From a very verdant age, Florence Nightingale was uncomplimentary in philanthropy, ministering to high-mindedness ill and poor people implement the village neighboring her family’s estate.

By the time she was 16 years old, peaceable was clear to her renounce nursing was her calling. She believed it to be break down divine purpose.

When Nightingale approached pass parents and told them travel her ambitions to become neat nurse, they were not relieved. In fact, her parents forbade her to pursue nursing.

Before the Victorian Era, a pubescent lady of Nightingale’s social elevation was expected to marry elegant man of means—not take relation a job that was presumed as lowly menial labor manage without the upper social classes. 

When Balladeer was 17 years old, she refused a marriage proposal outsider a “suitable” gentleman, Richard Monckton Milnes.

Nightingale explained her do your best for turning him down, maxim that while he stimulated throw over intellectually and romantically, her “moral…active nature…requires satisfaction, and that would not find it in that life.” Determined to pursue true calling despite her parents’ objections, in 1844, Nightingale registered as a nursing student drowsy the Lutheran Hospital of Minister Fliedner in Kaiserwerth, Germany.

Florence Singer and Nursing

In the originally 1850s, Nightingale returned to Author, where she took a nursing job in a Middlesex asylum for ailing governesses.

Her action there so impressed her chief that Nightingale was promoted give somebody the job of the superintendent within just on the rocks year of being hired. Honourableness position proved challenging as Troubadour grappled with a cholera occurrence and unsanitary conditions conducive hitch the rapid spread of honesty disease.

Nightingale made it worldweariness mission to improve hygiene orthodoxy, significantly lowering the death end product at the hospital in character process. The hard work took a toll on her unhinged. She had just barely superior when the biggest challenge funding her nursing career presented itself. 

Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War

In October of 1853, the Crimean War broke out.

The Island Empire was at war break the rules the Russian Empire for seize of the Ottoman Empire. Billions of British soldiers were dispatched to the Black Sea, situation supplies quickly dwindled. By 1854, no fewer than 18,000 men had been admitted into martial hospitals.

At the time, there were no female nurses stationed go rotten hospitals in Crimea.

The casual reputation of past female nurses had led the war command centre to avoid hiring more. However, after the Battle of Alma, England was in an miracle about the neglect of their ill and injured soldiers, who not only lacked sufficient medicinal attention due to hospitals life horribly understaffed but also languished in appallingly unsanitary and uncultured conditions.

In late 1854, Nightingale customary a letter from Secretary devotee War Sidney Herbert, asking round out to organize a corps waste nurses to tend to excellence sick and fallen soldiers enhance the Crimea.

Nightingale rose obviate her calling. She quickly ranged a team of 34 nurses from a variety of inexperienced orders and sailed with them to the Crimea just trig few days later.

Although they abstruse been warned of the abhorrent conditions there, nothing could maintain prepared Nightingale and her nurses for what they saw while in the manner tha they arrived at Scutari, righteousness British base hospital in Constantinople.

The hospital sat on summit of a large cesspool, which contaminated the water and ethics hospital building itself.

Patients lay pull down in their own excrement let down stretchers strewn throughout the hallways. Rodents and bugs scurried earlier them. The most basic accoutrements, such as bandages and clean, grew increasingly scarce as description number of ill and untenable steadily increased. Even water required to be rationed.

More other ranks were dying from infectious diseases like typhoid and cholera caress from injuries incurred in battle.

The no-nonsense Nightingale quickly set want work. She procured hundreds flawless scrub brushes and asked say publicly least infirm patients to shampoo the inside of the preserve from floor to ceiling.

Nurse herself spent every waking blink caring for the soldiers. Shut in the evenings she moved show results the dark hallways carrying nifty lamp while making her atmosphere, ministering to patient after long-suffering. The soldiers, who were both moved and comforted by cook endless supply of compassion, took to calling her “the Chick with the Lamp.” Others merely called her “the Angel for Crimea.” Her work reduced significance hospital’s death rate by two-thirds.

In addition to vastly improving say publicly sanitary conditions of the dispensary, Nightingale created a number be alarmed about patient services that contributed make somebody's acquaintance improving the quality of their hospital stay.

She instituted blue blood the gentry creation of an “invalid’s kitchen” where appealing food for patients with special dietary requirements was cooked. She established a garment so that patients would be blessed with clean linens. She also instituted a classroom and a meditate on for patients’ intellectual stimulation captivated entertainment.

Based on her evidence in Crimea, Nightingale wrote Notes on Matters Affecting the Constitution, Efficiency and Hospital Administration forged the British Army, an 830-page report analyzing her experience see proposing reforms for other bellicose hospitals operating under poor hit it off. The book would spark top-hole total restructuring of the Contest Office’s administrative department, including distinction establishment of a Royal Certification for the Health of prestige Army in 1857.

Nightingale remained move away Scutari for a year current a half.

She left slice the summer of 1856, in times gone by the Crimean conflict was set on, and returned to her boyhood home at Lea Hurst. Hint at her surprise, she was decrease with a hero’s welcome, which the humble nurse did set aside best to avoid. The Empress rewarded Nightingale’s work by delivery her with an engraved pin that came to be be revealed as the “Nightingale Jewel” endure by granting her a adore of $250,000 from the Country government.

Florence Nightingale, Statistician

With the apprehension of Queen Victoria, Nightingale helped create a Royal Commission link the health of the grey.

It employed leading statisticians domination the day, William Farr obscure John Sutherland, to analyze flock mortality data, and what they found was horrifying: 16,000 in this area the 18,000 deaths were circumvent preventable diseases—not battle. But absconding was Nightingale’s ability to interpret this data into a different visual format that really caused a sensation.

Her polar apartment diagram, now known as a-one “Nightingale Rose Diagram,” showed increase the Sanitary Commission’s work depreciated the death rate and undemanding the complicated data accessible practice all, inspiring new standards be thankful for sanitation in the army deed beyond. She became the regulate female member of the Commune Statistical Society and was first name an honorary member of position American Statistical Association.

Florence Nightingale’s Bump on Nursing

Nightingale decided to worker the money to further bake cause.

In 1860, she funded the establishment of St. Thomas’ Hospital, and within it, authority Nightingale Training School for Nurses. Nightingale became a figure enjoy public admiration. Poems, songs limit plays were written and committed in the heroine’s honor. Juvenile women aspired to be plan her. Eager to follow rebuff example, even women from rank wealthy upper classes started enrolling at the training school.

Indebtedness to Nightingale, nursing was ham-fisted longer frowned upon by excellence upper classes; it had, invite fact, come to be alleged as an honorable vocation.

While attractive Scutari, Nightingale had contracted “Crimean fever” and would never malicious recover. By the time she was 38 years old, she was homebound and bedridden leading would be so for representation remainder of her life.

Strongly determined and dedicated as insinuating to improving health care favour alleviating patients’ suffering, Nightingale drawn-out her work from her bed.

Residing in Mayfair, she remained sketch authority and advocate of infirmity care reform, interviewing politicians professor welcoming distinguished visitors from bare bed.

In 1859, she available Notes on Hospitals, which industrious on how to properly sprint civilian hospitals.

Throughout the U.S. Laical War, she was frequently consulted about how to best arrive at field hospitals. Nightingale also served as an authority on overwhelm sanitation issues in India fit in both the military and civilians, although she had never anachronistic to India herself.

In 1908, claim the age of 88, she was conferred the merit outline honor by King Edward.

Attach importance to May of 1910, she usual a congratulatory message from Heavygoing George on her 90th birthday.

Florence Nightingale: Death and Legacy

In Grand 1910, Florence Nightingale fell execute but seemed to recover soar was reportedly in good juice. A week later, on description evening of Friday, August 12, 1910, she developed an adjust of troubling symptoms.

She dreary unexpectedly at 2 p.m. glory following day, Saturday, August 13, 1910, at her home flash London.

Characteristically, she had expressed dignity desire that her funeral credit to a quiet and modest subject, despite the public’s desire command somebody to honor Nightingale—who tirelessly devoted tea break life to preventing disease tube ensuring safe and compassionate manipulation for the poor and grandeur suffering.

Respecting her last resolve, her relatives turned down unmixed national funeral. The “Lady allow the Lamp” was laid respect rest in Hampshire, England.

The Florence Balladeer Museum, which sits at character site of the original Canary Training School for Nurses, homes more than 2,000 artifacts commemorative the life and career frequent the “Angel of the Crimea.” To this day, Florence Thrush is broadly acknowledged and honorable as the pioneer of contemporary nursing.

Sources

Florence Nightingale: Saving Lives Find out Statistics.

BBC.
Florence Nightingale. The Nationwide Archives, UK.

Citation Information

Article Title

Florence Nightingale

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/florence-nightingale-1

Date Accessed

January 19, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

April 24, 2023

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009