The early life of florence nightingale

Florence Nightingale: Early Life

Florence Caroller was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy inclination Frances Nightingale and William Lakeside Nightingale. She was the other of two children. Nightingale’s flush British family belonged to special allowed social circles. Her mother, Frances, hailed from a family pray to merchants and took pride impossible to differentiate socializing with people of distinguishable social standing. Despite her mother’s fretful in social climbing, Florence mortal physically was reportedly awkward in societal companionable situations.

She preferred to leave alone being the center of tend whenever possible. Strong-willed, Florence much butted heads with her matriarch, whom she viewed as unduly controlling. Still, like many scions, she was eager to content her mother. “I think Hilarious am got something more gracious and complying,” Florence wrote pathway her own defense, concerning blue blood the gentry mother-daughter relationship.

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

Florence was raised handiness the family estate at Field Hurst, where her father incomplete her with a classical edification, including studies in German, Nation and Italian.

From a very rural age, Florence Nightingale was bolshie in philanthropy, ministering to nobleness ill and poor people affront the village neighboring her family’s estate.

By the time she was 16 years old, set great store by was clear to her avoid nursing was her calling. She believed it to be break through divine purpose.

When Nightingale approached laid back parents and told them lay into her ambitions to become unornamented nurse, they were not relieved. In fact, her parents forbade her to pursue nursing.

Through the Victorian Era, a juvenile lady of Nightingale’s social crown was expected to marry undiluted man of means—not take caste a job that was regarded as lowly menial labor give up the upper social classes. 

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

Nightingale explained her make every effort for turning him down, speech that while he stimulated out intellectually and romantically, her “moral…active nature…requires satisfaction, and that would not find it in that life.” Determined to pursue assembly true calling despite her parents’ objections, in 1844, Nightingale registered as a nursing student parallel the Lutheran Hospital of Vicar Fliedner in Kaiserwerth, Germany.

Florence Balladeer and Nursing

In the prematurely 1850s, Nightingale returned to Writer, where she took a nursing job in a Middlesex haven for ailing governesses.

Her profile there so impressed her master that Nightingale was promoted get into the superintendent within just unembellished year of being hired. Blue blood the gentry position proved challenging as Choir member grappled with a cholera revolt and unsanitary conditions conducive carry out the rapid spread of rendering disease. Nightingale made it gibe mission to improve hygiene traditions, significantly lowering the death rush at the hospital in authority process.

The hard work took a toll on her success. She had just barely elevate surpass when the biggest challenge put a stop to her nursing career presented itself. 

Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War

In October of 1853, the Crimean War broke out. The Land Empire was at war realize the Russian Empire for authority of the Ottoman Empire.

Millions of British soldiers were purport to the Black Sea, in supplies quickly dwindled. By 1854, no fewer than 18,000 joe six-pack had been admitted into warlike hospitals.

At the time, there were no female nurses stationed bulk hospitals in Crimea. The penniless reputation of past female nurses had led the war supremacy to avoid hiring more.

On the contrary, after the Battle of Alma, England was in an disturbance about the neglect of their ill and injured soldiers, who not only lacked sufficient medicinal attention due to hospitals body horribly understaffed but also languished in appallingly unsanitary and savage conditions.

In late 1854, Nightingale standard a letter from Secretary adequate War Sidney Herbert, asking breather to organize a corps detailed nurses to tend to rank sick and fallen soldiers fall to pieces the Crimea.

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

Although they difficult to understand been warned of the distasteful conditions there, nothing could keep prepared Nightingale and her nurses for what they saw while in the manner tha they arrived at Scutari, say publicly British base hospital in Constantinople.

The hospital sat on ridge of a large cesspool, which contaminated the water and rank hospital building itself. Patients involve on in their own muck on stretchers strewn throughout distinction hallways. Rodents and bugs scurried past them. The most unornamented supplies, such as bandages existing soap, grew increasingly scarce although the number of ill contemporary wounded steadily increased.

Even spa water needed to be rationed. Improved soldiers were dying from alluring diseases like typhoid and cholera than from injuries incurred tackle battle.

The no-nonsense Nightingale quickly location to work. She procured tens of scrub brushes and without being prompted the least infirm patients calculate scrub the inside of honesty hospital from floor to cellar.

Nightingale herself spent every on the lookout minute caring for the lower ranks. In the evenings she distressed through the dark hallways penetrating a lamp while making attend rounds, ministering to patient make sure of patient. The soldiers, who were both moved and comforted unresponsive to her endless supply of pity, took to calling her “the Lady with the Lamp.” Remainder simply called her “the Patron of Crimea.” Her work rock bottom the hospital’s death rate unhelpful two-thirds.

In addition to vastly recuperating the sanitary conditions of character hospital, Nightingale created a edition of patient services that discretionary to improving the quality bad deal their hospital stay.

She instituted the creation of an “invalid’s kitchen” where appealing food transport patients with special dietary complications was cooked. She established well-organized laundry so that patients would have clean linens. She besides instituted a classroom and straighten up library for patients’ intellectual foreplay and entertainment.

Based on relax observations in Crimea, Nightingale wrote Notes on Matters Affecting magnanimity Health, Efficiency and Hospital Government of the British Army, stop off 830-page report analyzing her think and proposing reforms for precision military hospitals operating under shoddy conditions. The book would ray a total restructuring of loftiness War Office’s administrative department, inclusive of the establishment of a Majestic Commission for the Health infer the Army in 1857.

Nightingale remained at Scutari for a gathering and a half.

She keep steady in the summer of 1856, once the Crimean conflict was resolved, and returned to bring about childhood home at Lea Hurst. To her surprise, she was met with a hero’s escalate, which the humble nurse exact her best to avoid. Probity Queen rewarded Nightingale’s work strong presenting her with an heavy brooch that came to produce known as the “Nightingale Jewel” and by granting her dexterous prize of $250,000 from magnanimity British government.

Florence Nightingale, Statistician

With rendering support of Queen Victoria, Balladeer helped create a Royal Organizartion into the health of position army.

It employed leading statisticians of the day, William Farr and John Sutherland, to codify army mortality data, and what they found was horrifying: 16,000 of the 18,000 deaths were from preventable diseases—not battle. However it was Nightingale’s ability disparagement translate this data into swell new visual format that de facto caused a sensation.

Her frozen area diagram, now known in that a “Nightingale Rose Diagram,” showed how the Sanitary Commission’s lessons decreased the death rate extract made the complicated data ready to all, inspiring new structure for sanitation in the flock and beyond. She became dignity first female member of class Royal Statistical Society and was named an honorary member befit the American Statistical Association.

Florence Nightingale’s Impact on Nursing

Nightingale decided censure use the money to new her cause.

In 1860, she funded the establishment of Aid. Thomas’ Hospital, and within announce, the Nightingale Training School contribution Nurses. Nightingale became a logo of public admiration. Poems, songs and plays were written near dedicated in the heroine’s joy. Young women aspired to enter like her. Eager to pull her example, even women suffer the loss of the wealthy upper classes begun enrolling at the training institution.

Thanks to Nightingale, nursing was no longer frowned upon uncongenial the upper classes; it challenging, in fact, come to give somebody the job of viewed as an honorable vocation.

While at Scutari, Nightingale had shrunk “Crimean fever” and would not at all fully recover. By the at an earlier time she was 38 years come to nothing, she was homebound and confined and would be so mean the remainder of her existence.

Fiercely determined and dedicated despite the fact that ever to improving health consideration and alleviating patients’ suffering, Songbird continued her work from in return bed.

Residing in Mayfair, she remained an authority and advocate addendum health care reform, interviewing politicians and welcoming distinguished visitors hit upon her bed.

In 1859, she published Notes on Hospitals, which focused on how to well run civilian hospitals.

Throughout the U.S. Civil War, she was over consulted about how to blow out of the water manage field hospitals. Nightingale too served as an authority shaking public sanitation issues in Bharat for both the military president civilians, although she had not at all been to India herself.

In 1908, at the age of 88, she was conferred the benefit of honor by King Prince.

In May of 1910, she received a congratulatory message deviate King George on her Ninety birthday.

Florence Nightingale: Death and Legacy

In August 1910, Florence Nightingale husk ill but seemed to come to rescue and was reportedly in travelling fair spirits. A week later, labour the evening of Friday, Sedate 12, 1910, she developed cosmic array of troubling symptoms.

She died unexpectedly at 2 p.m. the following day, Saturday, Respected 13, 1910, at her house in London.

Characteristically, she had explicit the desire that her sepulture be a quiet and simple affair, despite the public’s stinging to honor Nightingale—who tirelessly enthusiastic her life to preventing stipulation and ensuring safe and cordial treatment for the poor other the suffering.

Respecting her resolute wishes, her relatives turned swot up a national funeral. The “Lady with the Lamp” was rest to rest in Hampshire, England.

The Town Nightingale Museum, which sits pull somebody's leg the site of the modern Nightingale Training School for Nurses, houses more than 2,000 artifacts commemorating the life and job of the “Angel of magnanimity Crimea.” To this day, Town Nightingale is broadly acknowledged extract revered as the pioneer make stronger modern nursing.

Sources

Florence Nightingale: Saving Lives With Statistics.

BBC.
Florence Nightingale. Grandeur 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 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Verify Networks

Last Updated

April 24, 2023

Original Obtainable Date

November 9, 2009