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Florence Nightingale was
born in 1820 in Florence, Italy.
When Florence was sixteen years old her life was changed. God spoke to her and told her that she had a task that He wanted her to do. Whatever anyone would think of such an event, it was real to Florence. She now knew that her life had a purpose, and that whatever would happen would be in God's will and timing.
Florence then wanted to serve as a nurse in a local hospital. Nurses had a very different role at that time and were no more than cleaners. Even maids and servants looked down on them.
By the end of 1854 Florence and thirty eight female nurses travelled to the army hospital at Scutari in Turkey. It was a disgusting place. There were a huge number of injured soldiers, hardly any were receiving even basic care and treatment for their injuries. A sewer went under the building causing the whole place to smell. There was very little food and hygiene was non-existent.
For a while, despite the great need all around, the male army doctors refused to allow Florence and her nurses to help at all. Then, at the battle of Balaclava, many men were killed and injured. The hospital was overrun with seriously injured soldiers and Florence and her nurses were allowed to help them. Nobody could now claim that the nurses did not have a significant role in an army hospital. They cleaned up the hospital making it as hygienic as possible. They provided clean bedding and bandages for the soldiers. And they cared for these injured and dying people showing them compassion at a traumatic and desperate stage in their lives.
In a letter Florence wrote 'We have four miles of beds eighteen inches apart'. The situation was desperate and eventually the male army doctors gave a free hand to organize the hospital and she did. She changed the wards, the kitchens and the bedding. She provided clean clothes for the soldiers, and even arranged for one derelict wing of the hospital to be rebuilt. It was during this time that Florence gained the nickname 'The Lady of the Lamp' because she was continually checking all parts of the hospital day and night and at night she needed the lamp. In 1855 Queen Victoria wrote to Florence to thank her for all that she had done.
Also in 1855 Florence travelled to other army hospitals. The doctors reacted in the same way as at Scutari but she did start the process of change in these hospitals. Eventually she collapsed with a fever and was not expected to survive. The news shocked the people back in England who avidly followed the reports on her health. When Florence eventually recovered there was a national celebration. The war was practically over and it was not long before the hospital was empty and Florence returned home.
Florence met Queen Victoria and this resulted in a Royal Commission being set up under Sidney Herbert to make recommendations on hospital procedures and Florence did most of the work!
Florence was still to make a major contribution to the peoples of the world. She advised on the treatment of injured soldiers in Egypt. She advised the Americans during the duration of the Civil War. She was involved in a Royal Commission into the health problems in India which resulted, by 1888, in a sanitary board being set up in every province of India.
In 1907 Florence Nightingale, now blind, received the Order of Merit award. In 1910 at the age of ninety she died, having completed all that God had requested from her in this world and was present with Him in the next.
When Florence was sixteen years old her life was changed. God spoke to her and told her that she had a task that He wanted her to do. Whatever anyone would think of such an event, it was real to Florence. She now knew that her life had a purpose, and that whatever would happen would be in God's will and timing.
Florence then wanted to serve as a nurse in a local hospital. Nurses had a very different role at that time and were no more than cleaners. Even maids and servants looked down on them.
By the end of 1854 Florence and thirty eight female nurses travelled to the army hospital at Scutari in Turkey. It was a disgusting place. There were a huge number of injured soldiers, hardly any were receiving even basic care and treatment for their injuries. A sewer went under the building causing the whole place to smell. There was very little food and hygiene was non-existent.
For a while, despite the great need all around, the male army doctors refused to allow Florence and her nurses to help at all. Then, at the battle of Balaclava, many men were killed and injured. The hospital was overrun with seriously injured soldiers and Florence and her nurses were allowed to help them. Nobody could now claim that the nurses did not have a significant role in an army hospital. They cleaned up the hospital making it as hygienic as possible. They provided clean bedding and bandages for the soldiers. And they cared for these injured and dying people showing them compassion at a traumatic and desperate stage in their lives.
In a letter Florence wrote 'We have four miles of beds eighteen inches apart'. The situation was desperate and eventually the male army doctors gave a free hand to organize the hospital and she did. She changed the wards, the kitchens and the bedding. She provided clean clothes for the soldiers, and even arranged for one derelict wing of the hospital to be rebuilt. It was during this time that Florence gained the nickname 'The Lady of the Lamp' because she was continually checking all parts of the hospital day and night and at night she needed the lamp. In 1855 Queen Victoria wrote to Florence to thank her for all that she had done.
Also in 1855 Florence travelled to other army hospitals. The doctors reacted in the same way as at Scutari but she did start the process of change in these hospitals. Eventually she collapsed with a fever and was not expected to survive. The news shocked the people back in England who avidly followed the reports on her health. When Florence eventually recovered there was a national celebration. The war was practically over and it was not long before the hospital was empty and Florence returned home.
Florence met Queen Victoria and this resulted in a Royal Commission being set up under Sidney Herbert to make recommendations on hospital procedures and Florence did most of the work!
Florence was still to make a major contribution to the peoples of the world. She advised on the treatment of injured soldiers in Egypt. She advised the Americans during the duration of the Civil War. She was involved in a Royal Commission into the health problems in India which resulted, by 1888, in a sanitary board being set up in every province of India.
In 1907 Florence Nightingale, now blind, received the Order of Merit award. In 1910 at the age of ninety she died, having completed all that God had requested from her in this world and was present with Him in the next.
