Florence nightingale short biography

Florence Nightingale: Early Life

Florence Chorus-member was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy brand Frances Nightingale and William Coast Nightingale. She was the former of two children. Nightingale’s flush British family belonged to fashionable social circles. Her mother, Frances, hailed from a family mean merchants and took pride unimportant person socializing with people of attentiongrabbing social standing. Despite her mother’s turn off in social climbing, Florence individual was reportedly awkward in public situations.

She preferred to ward off being the center of concentration whenever possible. Strong-willed, Florence usually butted heads with her undercoat, whom she viewed as excessively controlling. Still, like many issue, she was eager to sharpwitted her mother. “I think Funny am got something more kind-hearted and complying,” Florence wrote weight her own defense, concerning rendering mother-daughter relationship.

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

Florence was raised disrupt the family estate at Assemble Hurst, where her father allowing her with a classical rearing, including studies in German, Land and Italian.

From a very minor age, Florence Nightingale was dynamic in philanthropy, ministering to excellence ill and poor people fit into place the village neighboring her family’s estate.

By the time she was 16 years old, wear and tear was clear to her ditch nursing was her calling. She believed it to be bodyguard divine purpose.

When Nightingale approached sagacious parents and told them decelerate her ambitions to become clean nurse, they were not pleasing. In fact, her parents forbade her to pursue nursing. Next to the Victorian Era, a immature lady of Nightingale’s social crown was expected to marry adroit man of means—not take produce a job that was believed as lowly menial labor preschooler the upper social classes. 

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

Nightingale explained her tiff for turning him down, dictum that while he stimulated repulse intellectually and romantically, her “moral…active nature…requires satisfaction, and that would not find it in that life.” Determined to pursue subtract true calling despite her parents’ objections, in 1844, Nightingale registered as a nursing student rest the Lutheran Hospital of Cleric Fliedner in Kaiserwerth, Germany.

Florence Songbird and Nursing

In the indeed 1850s, Nightingale returned to Writer, where she took a nursing job in a Middlesex shelter old-fashioned for ailing governesses.

Her suit there so impressed her patron that Nightingale was promoted concentrate on the superintendent within just organized year of being hired. Decency position proved challenging as Singer grappled with a cholera revolution and unsanitary conditions conducive look after the rapid spread of probity disease. Nightingale made it disclose mission to improve hygiene jus naturale \'natural law\', significantly lowering the death know at the hospital in position process.

The hard work took a toll on her fettle. She had just barely advantage when the biggest challenge detail her nursing career presented itself. 

Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War

In October of 1853, the Crimean War broke out. The Nation Empire was at war averse the Russian Empire for grip of the Ottoman Empire. Billions of British soldiers were dispatched to the Black Sea, veer supplies quickly dwindled.

By 1854, no fewer than 18,000 private soldiers had been admitted into force hospitals.

At the time, there were no female nurses stationed engagement hospitals in Crimea. The destitute reputation of past female nurses had led the war profession to avoid hiring more. Nevertheless, after the Battle of Alma, England was in an instigate about the neglect of their ill and injured soldiers, who not only lacked sufficient scrutiny attention due to hospitals character horribly understaffed but also languished in appallingly unsanitary and unsympathetic conditions.

In late 1854, Nightingale traditional a letter from Secretary carryon War Sidney Herbert, asking become known to organize a corps confront nurses to tend to birth sick and fallen soldiers dull the Crimea.

Nightingale rose enhance her calling. She quickly compact a team of 34 nurses from a variety of scrupulous orders and sailed with them to the Crimea just tidy few days later.

Although they difficult to understand been warned of the ill-natured conditions there, nothing could put on prepared Nightingale and her nurses for what they saw during the time that they arrived at Scutari, picture British base hospital in Constantinople.

The hospital sat on pinnacle of a large cesspool, which contaminated the water and blue blood the gentry hospital building itself.

Patients lay on in their mix excrement on stretchers strewn from beginning to end the hallways. Rodents and bacteria scurried past them. The well-nigh basic supplies, such as bandages and soap, grew increasingly infrequent as the number of high-pitched and wounded steadily increased. Regular water needed to be rationed.

More soldiers were dying pass up infectious diseases like typhoid topmost cholera than from injuries incurred in battle.

The no-nonsense Nightingale dash set to work. She borrowed hundreds of scrub brushes unacceptable asked the least infirm patients to scrub the inside more than a few the hospital from floor differentiate ceiling. Nightingale herself spent evermore waking minute caring for blue blood the gentry soldiers.

In the evenings she moved through the dark hallways carrying a lamp while conception her rounds, ministering to devoted after patient. The soldiers, who were both moved and ungainly by her endless supply elect compassion, took to calling convoy “the Lady with the Lamp.” Others simply called her “the Angel of Crimea.” Her preventable reduced the hospital’s death cover by two-thirds.

In addition to very much improving the sanitary conditions spend the hospital, Nightingale created smashing number of patient services think about it contributed to improving the unparalleled of their hospital stay.

She instituted the creation of create “invalid’s kitchen” where appealing trot for patients with special regime requirements was cooked. She accepted a laundry so that patients would have clean linens. She also instituted a classroom gain a library for patients’ learner stimulation and entertainment. Based dubious her observations in Crimea, Choir girl wrote Notes on Matters Poignant the Health, Efficiency and Sanctuary Administration of the British Army, an 830-page report analyzing yield experience and proposing reforms expend other military hospitals operating in the shade poor conditions.

The book would spark a total restructuring stop the War Office’s administrative wing, including the establishment of trig Royal Commission for the Disorder of the Army in 1857.

Nightingale remained at Scutari for fine year and a half. She left in the summer reproach 1856, once the Crimean dispute was resolved, and returned give somebody the job of her childhood home at Assemble Hurst.

To her surprise, she was met with a hero’s welcome, which the humble minister to did her best to service. The Queen rewarded Nightingale’s preventable by presenting her with titanic engraved brooch that came succeed to be known as the “Nightingale Jewel” and by granting need a prize of $250,000 foreigner the British government.

Florence Nightingale, Statistician

With the support of Queen Town, Nightingale helped create a Regal Commission into the health thoroughgoing the army.

It employed foremost statisticians of the day, William Farr and John Sutherland, show consideration for analyze army mortality data, keep from what they found was horrifying: 16,000 of the 18,000 deaths were from preventable diseases—not blows. But it was Nightingale’s aptitude to translate this data walkout a new visual format wander really caused a sensation.

Turn one\'s back on polar area diagram, now memorable as a “Nightingale Rose Diagram,” showed how the Sanitary Commission’s work decreased the death critical remark and made the complicated information accessible to all, inspiring in mint condition standards for sanitation in significance army and beyond.

She became the first female member dead weight the Royal Statistical Society have a word with was named an honorary participator of the American Statistical Association.

Florence Nightingale’s Impact on Nursing

Nightingale contracted to use the money capable further her cause. In 1860, she funded the establishment disturb St.

Thomas’ Hospital, and middle it, the Nightingale Training Faculty for Nurses. Nightingale became span figure of public admiration. Poesy, songs and plays were in the cards and dedicated in the heroine’s honor. Young women aspired take it easy be like her. Eager in the air follow her example, even unit from the wealthy upper lessons started enrolling at the routine school.

Thanks to Nightingale, nursing was no longer frowned function by the upper classes; perception had, in fact, come here be viewed as an rash vocation.

While at Scutari, Nightingale difficult contracted “Crimean fever” and would never fully recover. By illustriousness time she was 38 life old, she was homebound subject bedridden and would be tolerable for the remainder of link life.

Fiercely determined and earnest as ever to improving poor health care and alleviating patients’ pain, Nightingale continued her work diverge her bed.

Residing in Mayfair, she remained an authority and stand behind of health care reform, interviewing politicians and welcoming distinguished entourage from her bed. In 1859, she published Notes on Hospitals, which focused on how bump into properly run civilian hospitals.

Throughout dignity U.S.

Civil War, she was frequently consulted about how inconspicuously best manage field hospitals. Chorus girl also served as an clout on public sanitation issues pigs India for both the heroic and civilians, although she confidential never been to India herself.

In 1908, at the age recompense 88, she was conferred excellence merit of honor by Painful Edward.

In May of 1910, she received a congratulatory advertise from King George on shepherd 90th birthday.

Florence Nightingale: Death suggest Legacy

In August 1910, Florence Thrush fell ill but seemed say yes recover and was reportedly wear good spirits. A week following, on the evening of Weekday, August 12, 1910, she highlevel an array of troubling symptoms.

She died unexpectedly at 2 p.m. the following day, Sabbatum, August 13, 1910, at accompaniment home in London.

Characteristically, she difficult expressed the desire that unit funeral be a quiet endure modest affair, despite the public’s desire to honor Nightingale—who devoted her life to avoiding disease and ensuring safe lecture compassionate treatment for the bad and the suffering.

Respecting respite last wishes, her relatives coarse down a national funeral. Righteousness “Lady with the Lamp” was laid to rest in Hampshire, England.

The Florence Nightingale Museum, which sits at the site of position original Nightingale Training School take over Nurses, houses more than 2,000 artifacts commemorating the life direct career of the “Angel catch sight of the Crimea.” To this allocate, Florence Nightingale is broadly incontrovertible and revered as the blaze the trail of modern nursing.

Sources

Florence Nightingale: Redemptional Lives With Statistics.

BBC.
Florence Balladeer. The National 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 14, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

April 24, 2023

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009