Florence Nightingale Influence in Nursing

• Born May 12, 1820, the second daughter of a wealthy family, she was named after the city

in which she was born—Florence, Italy.

• Because of her family’s high

social and economic standing,

she was cultured, well traveled,

and educated.

• By the age of 17, as the result of training from her father, she had mastered seven languages and mathematics.

• Florence Nightingale wanted to become a nurse, but this aspirationwas unthinkable to her family

because of the terrible conditions of the hospitals at that time and whatwe now refer to as the “servant image”

of nursing. • She continued to travel with her family and their friends and, in the course of these travels, met Sidney Herbert and his wife,who were interested in hospital improvement.

• At the time, the public health movement and concerns about hospital reform were growing across England. She began collecting information on public health and hospitals and soon became recognized as an important authority on the subject.

• Through friends, she learned about Pastor Fliedner’sinstitute at Kaiserwerth where care was provided and nurses were trained. She visited Kaiserwerth briefly in 1850.

• Because it was a religiousinstitution under the

sponsorships of a Protestantchurch, her parents would

permit her to go there, althoughshe could not go to English

hospitals. In 1851, at age 31, she spent 3 months studying at Kaiserwerth.

• In 1853, she began working with a

committee that supervised an

“Establishment for Gentlewomen During Illness.” She eventually was appointed superintendent of the establishment, a position she held from August 1853 to October 1854.

• After the Crimean War began in March 1854, war correspondents communicating through the newly developed telegraph wrote about the terrible conditions in which the British Army cared for sick and wounded soldiers.

• Florence Nightingale, by then a recognized authority on hospital care, wrote to her friend Sir Sidney Herbert, who was then Secretary of War, and offered to take a group of 38 nurses to the Crimea.

• Her tireless efforts in the Crimea resulted in greatly reduced mortality rates among the sick and wounded.

When the war ended in 1856, Florence Nightingale returned to England as a

national hero.

• Her next major project involved working to change the entire approach to health for the British soldier. These activities included constructing hospitals and improving basic hygiene and public health measures for the army.

• Her focus was on providing cleanliness, wholesome food, fresh air, and separation of people from garbage and sewage both for living environments and for hospital construction. These simple public health measures were revolutionary

in the late 1800s.

• After her return from the Crimea, she experienced ongoing health problems. Much has been written of her illness. Some authorities indicate that her symptoms were consistent with chronic brucellosis, a not uncommon disease of the time; others have expressed the view that it was, to a large degree, a neurosis; and more recently, some declare that it was posttraumatic stress disorder.

• In addition to her ongoing public health work, she cared for her mother, sister, and extended family members; provided nursing to Holloway villagers; and reformed nursing at Buxton Hospital where her patients were admitted (MacQueen, 2007).

• Throughout her lifetime, Florence Nightingale wrote extensively about hospitals, sanitation, health, and health statistics (creating the first pie chart), and especially about nursing and nursing education.

•

• Among her most popular books is

Notes on Nursing, published in 1859.

• In 1860, she devoted her efforts to the creation of a school of nursing at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, established to honor her work in the Crimea.

The basic principles on which Miss Nightingale established her school included the following:

• Nurses would be trained in teaching hospitals associated with medical schools and organized for that purpose.

• • Nurses would be selected carefully and would be located in nurses’ houses designed to encourage discipline and form character.

• The school matron would have final authority over the curriculum, living arrangements, and all other aspects of the school.

• The curriculum would include both theoretic material and practical experience.• • Records would be kept on the students, who would be required to attend lectures, take quizzes, write papers, andkeep diaries.

Teachers would be

paid for their instruction.

• In many other ways, Florence Nightingale advanced nursing as a profession.

• She believed that nurses should spend their time caring for patients, not cleaning; that nurses must continue learning throughout their lifetime and not become “stagnant;” that nurses should be intelligent and use that intelligence to improve conditions for the patient;

• nursing leaders should have social standing. She had avision of what nursing could and should be.

• Florence Nightingale

received many honors

from foreign governments,

and in 1907, she was

recognized by the Queen

of England, who awarded

her the British Order of Merit.

It was the first time it was

given to a woman.

• Florence Nightingale

died in her sleep at

the age of 90 on August

13, 1910.

• The week during which

she was born is now

honored as International

Nurses Week.