FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE

Florence Nightingale (12th May 1820 - 13th August 1910) was an English social reformer and the founder of modern nursing. Florence came to prominence while serving as a manger of nurses trained by her during the Crimean War, where she organized the tending to wounded soldiers. She gave nursing a highly favourable reputation and became the icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of  "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.
(All information is from Wikipedia).
Critics agreed on the decisive importance of her follow-up achievements in professionalizing nursing roles for women. In 1860, Florence laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St.Thomas' Hospital in London. It was the first secular nursing school in the world, now part of King's College London. In recognition of her pioneering work in nursing, the Nightingale Pledge taken by new nurses, and the Florence Nightingale medal, the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve, were named in her honour, and the annual International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on her birthday. Her social reforms include improving healthcare for all sections of British Society, helping to abolish prostitution laws that were over-harsh to women, and expanding the acceptable forms of female participation in the workplace.

Florence was a versatile writer and in her lifetime, much of her published work was concerned with spreading medical knowledge. Some of her tracts were written in simple English so that they could easily be understood by those with poor literary skills.

Florence was born on 12th May, 1820, into a rich, upper-class family, in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The family moved back to England in 1821, and Florence was brought up in one of the family's three homes. Her father educated Florence, which is where she got her liberal-humanitarian outlook.
It was expected that Florence would marry well and become a mother, however, she showed great determination in wanting to become a nurse and "respectfully" rebelled against her mother. Florence worked hard to educate herself in the art and science of nursing. This young woman believed she had a "calling" to nursing.

 Florence's most famous contribution came during the Crimean War. The conditions were horrific for the wounded soldiers so on 21st October, 1854, Florence and 38 women volunteer nurses that she had trained, were sent, along with 15 Catholic nuns, to the Ottoman Empire. Florence and the others found that poor care for wounded soldiers was being delivered by overworked medical staff. Medicines were in short supply, hygiene neglected, and mass infections were common, many of them fatal. There was no equipment to process food for the patients.
Florence sent a plea to The Times for a government solution and a prefabricated hospital was shipped. The result was Renkia Hospital. Florence herself helped reduce the death rate by making improvements in hygiene. For example, Florence implemented "handwashing"  and other hygiene practices in the war hospital in which she worked.
During her time at the war hospital, Florence saw more soldiers die from disease than battle wounds and realized that the unsanitary conditions contributed greatly to the deaths. She did her best to improve these conditions and the deaths were reduced. Florence never claimed any credit for saving the soldiers lives.

Upon returning to Britain, Florence studied the evidence and believed that the death rates were due to poor nutrition, lack of supplies, stale air and overworking of the soldiers. This influenced her later career, when she advocated sanitary living conditions as of great importance. Thus, Florence turned her attention to the sanitary design of hospitals and the introduction of sanitation in working-class homes.

On 13th August,1910, at the age of 90, Florence died peacefully in her sleep in her room at 10 South Street, Mayfair, London. Florence was buried in the graveyard at St.Margaret's Church in East Wellow, Hampshire, near Embley Park.

Florence Nightingale's lasting contribution has been her role in founding the modern nursing profession. She set an example of compassion, commitment to patient care and diligent and thoughtful hospital administration.