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Florence Nightingale was a celebrated English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. She came to prominence while serving as a nurse during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was known as The Lady with the Lamp after her habit of making rounds at night.
From Queen Victoria |
Florence Nightingale Signature |
Florence Nightingale, daughter of William Edward Nightingale and Frances Coape Smith, was born on 12 May 1820 in the City of Florence in Italy.[1]
Florence's father, William Shore had changed his name to Nightingale, on inheriting the estate of Lea Hurst in Derbyshire from his maternal great-uncle, Peter Nightingale, in accordance with the terms of his relative’s will.
In 1837 Florence began to develop an interest in nursing, but her parents considered it to be a profession inappropriate to a woman of her class and background, and would not allow her to train as a nurse. Eventually in 1851 they relented. Florence went to Kaiserwerth in Germany for three months nursing training which enabled her in 1853, to become superintendent of a hospital for gentlewomen in Harley Street.[2]
The Crimean War began in 1854. Florence led a team of women to take over the management of the barrack hospital at Scutari where she observed the disastrous sanitary conditions. It was here whilst tending to the wounded soliders at night that she became known as the lady with the lamp.[3]
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. When all the medical officers have retired for the night and silence and darkness have settled down upon those miles of prostrate sick, she may be observed alone, with a little lamp in her hand, making her solitary rounds.[4]
In 1860 Florence opened a school of nursing at St Thomas' Hospital in London, which was the foundation for professional nursing. Once the nurses were trained, they were sent to hospitals all over Britain, where they introduced the ideas they had learned, and established nursing training on the Nightingale model.
Nightingale's theories, published in 'Notes on Nursing' (1860), were hugely influential and her concerns for sanitation, military health and hospital planning established practices which are still in existence today.
Florence settled in London and led the life of a retired invalid. She spent a great deal of time offering advice and encouragement both verbally and through her writing. She was also involved in establishing the East London Nursing Society (1868), the Workhouse Nursing Association and National Society for providing Trained Nurses for the Poor (1874) and the Queen's Jubilee Nursing Institute (1890).[5]
Royal Red Cross |
In 1883, Florence had been awarded the Royal Red Cross by Queen Victoria. In 1904 she was appointed a Lady of Grace of the Order of St John (LGStJ). She also received the Order of Merit in 1907 and in 1908 she was awarded the Freedom of the City of London. She had already received the German order of the Cross of Merit and the French gold medal of Secours aux Blessés Militaires. On 10 May 1910 she was presented with the badge of honour of the Norwegian Red Cross Society. [6]
It is self-evident from the foregoing that Florence had "endless energy, which became known as "Nightingale power". But what is less well known about her is that she was a deeply spiritual person who wrote several books on Christian mysticism. She is one of the best examples ... of awakened individuals who have pursued altruistic endeavors with incredible energy and determination."[7] Evelyn Underhill desribed her as "one of the greatest and most balanced contemplatives of the nineteenth century."[8] She herself wrote "Heaven is neither a place nor a time. There might be a Heaven not only here but now. Where shall I find God? In myself. That is the true Mystical Doctrine."[9]
Florence Nightingale died on 13 August 1910, aged 90, at her home in Park Lane, London.[10] She was buried on 20th August in the family plot at East Wellow, Hampshire. An offer of burial in Westminster Abbey was refused by her relatives.
Memorial Plaque in Derby Cathedral |
The Coronavirus Pandemic and the NHS Nightingale Hospitals
On 24 March 2020 it was announced that a new hospital, named in honour of Florence Nightingale, was to be set up at the ExCeL conference centre in East London. Following an intensive joint effort by NHS clinicians and managers and military planners and engineers, the hospital would be ready for use from the following week. The Nightingale Hospital will provide support for thousands of patients with coronavirus, initially providing up to 500 beds equipped with ventilators and oxygen; but with the capacity to increase the number of available beds into the thousands.[11]
NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said:
In total 7 critical care Nightingale Hospitals were planned, 6 of which had been built as at 12 May 2020, the date of Florence Nightingale's bi-centenary. [12]
2020 Bi-Centenary
Florence Nightingale is buried at St Margaret of Antioch Churchyard, East Wellow, Test Valley Borough, Hampshire, England. [20]
An extensively researched article titled "NZ Nurses Organisation: Why we aren’t celebrating Florence’s birthday"[21]for the 200th anniversary of her birth in 2020, found "Florence Nightingale’s statements on colonisation and the fate of Indigenous people a “dangerous legacy”". Some examples from the article are, initially:- "we must “above all” obey the male doctors"; followed by those relating to New Zealand and Australia:- Nightingale supported the alienation of Māori land, in order to force migration to European settlements and to bring contact with what she termed, “the inestimable blessings of Christian civilisation”. “The object should be to draw them gradually into better habits and gradually to civilise them”". "To those who objected, and said that “provision of land should be made for the exclusive use of the existing tribes” in the colonies, she replied: “this by itself would be simply preserving their barbarism for the sake of preserving their lives”". She clearly accepted the typical attitude of the colonising power, which was in total contrast to her being a Christian Mystic, and suggests that element of her earlier life had faded as it did with some other well known awakened people. However, "Perhaps her most disturbing advice, in the present circumstances, was her dismissal of reports about outbreaks of infectious diseases among indigenous communities following contact with Europeans". "Nightingale advised that efforts to support the heath of indigenous people should focus elsewhere." There is more in the article.
See also:
Thank you to Jane Nightingale for starting this profile.
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Categories: United Kingdom, Crimean War | Australia, Postage Stamps | Nurses | This Day In History May 12 | This Day In History August 13 | Mayfair, Middlesex (London) | Feminism | Royal Red Cross | English Authors | Dames of Grace of the Order of St John | Order of Merit | Women's History | England Managed Profiles, Post-1700 PPP | Derbyshire, Notables | Notables
edited by Clare Pierson
We are featuring Florence alongside Louis Pasteur, the Example Profile of the Week in the Connection Finder, on April 28, with the theme of medical innovators. Between now and then is a good time to take a look at the sources and biography to see if there are updates and improvements that need made, especially those that will bring it up to WikiTree Style Guide standards. We know it's short notice, so don't fret too much. Just do what you can. A Team member will check on the profile the day before the Connection Finder is updated and make last minute style-guide changes as necessary.
Thanks! Abby