It was the first secular nursing school in the world, and is now part of King's College London. Her social reforms included improving healthcare for all sections of British society, advocating better hunger relief in India, helping to abolish prostitution laws that were harsh for women, and expanding the acceptable forms of female participation in the workforce. Never satisfied with the traditional female skills of home management, she preferred to read the great philosophers and to engage in serious political and social discourse with her father. At the closure of the DRI the window was again removed and stored. Professional Nursing Practice: Concepts and perspective, Koernig & Hayes, sixth edition, 2011, p. 100. [31] Nightingale told her brother-in-law, in a private letter, that she was worried about contact between her work and Seacole's business, claiming that while “she was very kind to the men and, what is more, to the Officers – and did some good (she) made many drunk”. 2 of 2 by Edward Tyas Cook, "Institute of Our Lady of Mercy, Great Britain", "Florence Nightingale: The Grave at East Wellow", Florence Nightingale's autobiographical notes: A critical edition of BL Add. Florence Nightingale, the “Lady with the Lamp,” at the Barrack Hospital at Scutari (Üsküdar) in 1854 during the Crimean War. As a child living on the family es… The British and the French, allies of Turkey, sought to curb Russian expansion. Updates? Navigate parenthood with the help of the Raising Curious Learners podcast. In 2009, a stage musical play representation of Nightingale entitled The Voyage of the Lass was produced by the Association of Nursing Service Administrators of the Philippines. [a] She criticised early women's rights activists for decrying an alleged lack of careers for women at the same time that lucrative medical positions, under the supervision of Nightingale and others, went perpetually unfilled. (Investigations by historians in the 20th century revealed that the mortality rate at Barrack Hospital under Nightingale’s care was actually much higher than had been reported—the British government had concealed the actual mortality rate.). Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. She became Herbert's key adviser throughout his political career, though she was accused by some of having hastened Herbert's death from Bright's Disease in 1861 because of the pressure her programme of reform placed on him. Tan-Feng Chang, CREOLIZING THE WHITE WOMAN’S BURDEN: MARY SEACOLE PLAYING “MOTHER” AT THE COLONIAL CROSSROADS BETWEEN PANAMA AND CRIMEA, (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017), p. 526. Florence Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820 into a wealthy and well-connected British family at the Villa Colombaia, in Florence, Tuscany, Italy, and was named after the city of her birth. [48] In the following year she was given the Honorary Freedom of the City of London. Unless God has a scheme that every man is to be saved forever, it is hard to say in what He is not worse than man. [130] The last of these planes was retired from service in 2005. Nightingale gets a full chapter, but instead of debunking her, Strachey praised her in a way that raised her national reputation and made her an icon for English feminists of the 1920s and 1930s.[76]. She was a great person, widely acknowledged as the pioneer of modern nursing; she was also a proficient mathematician. She was named after the town where she was born. Nightingale's work served as an inspiration for nurses in the American Civil War. Nightingale often carried the owl in her pocket, until the pet died (soon before Nightingale left for Crimea). At Thebes, she wrote of being "called to God", while a week later near Cairo she wrote in her diary (as distinct from her far longer letters that her elder sister Parthenope was to print after her return): "God called me in the morning and asked me would I do good for him alone without reputation. [15], Nightingale continued her travels (now with Charles and Selina Bracebridge) as far as Greece and Egypt. In October 1853 the Turkish Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, following a series of disputes over holy places in Jerusalem and Russian demands to exercise protection over the Orthodox subjects of the Ottoman sultan. Probably she was the most extraordinary nurse in history. Who is Florence Nightingale? On 22 August 1853, Nightingale took the post of superintendent at the Institute for the Care of Sick Gentlewomen in Upper Harley Street, London, a position she held until October 1854. At the age of 16, she experienced one of several “calls from God.” She viewed her particular calling as reducing human suffering. [45], By 1882, several Nightingale nurses had become matrons at several leading hospitals, including, in London (St Mary's Hospital, Westminster Hospital, St Marylebone Workhouse Infirmary and the Hospital for Incurables at Putney) and throughout Britain (Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley; Edinburgh Royal Infirmary; Cumberland Infirmary and Liverpool Royal Infirmary), as well as at Sydney Hospital in New South Wales, Australia. Nightingale called a compilation of such diagrams a "coxcomb", but later that term would frequently be used for the individual diagrams. [b] She preferred the friendship of powerful men, insisting they had done more than women to help her attain her goals, writing: "I have never found one woman who has altered her life by one iota for me or my opinions. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. In her youth she was respectful of her family's opposition to her working as a nurse, only announcing her decision to enter the field in 1844. Nightingale remained in Scutari until the hospitals were ready to close, returning to her home in Derbyshire on August 7, 1856, as a reluctant heroine. [68] She made extensive use of coxcombs to present reports on the nature and magnitude of the conditions of medical care in the Crimean War to Members of Parliament and civil servants who would have been unlikely to read or understand traditional statistical reports. It did not portray her as an entirely sympathetic character and draws much characterisation from Lytton Strachey's biography of her in Eminent Victorians. Portrait published in 1891 by Cassell & Company, from a painting by Henrietta Rae. She also campaigned and raised funds for the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital in Aylesbury near her sister's home, Claydon House. On 21 October 1854, she and the staff of 38 women volunteer nurses that she trained, including her aunt Mai Smith,[21] and 15 Catholic nuns (mobilised by Henry Edward Manning)[22] were sent (under the authorisation of Sidney Herbert) to the Ottoman Empire. Florence was stubborn, opinionated and forthright but she had to be those things in order to achieve all that she did. Florence Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820 at the Villa La Columbaia in Florence; she was named after the city of her birth. [56] Her most beloved confidante was Mary Clarke, an Englishwoman she met in Paris in 1837 and kept in touch with throughout her life. Florence was a precocious child intellectually. British nurse, statistician, and social reformer. In October 2010, £6,000 was raised to reposition the window in St Peter's Church, Derby. [d] Later, Nightingale became a pioneer in the visual presentation of information and statistical graphics. In the same 1861 letter she wrote, "It makes me mad, the Women's Rights talk about 'the want of a field' for them – when I would gladly give £500 a year for a Woman secretary. Stark, Myra. She aspired to serve others, in particular, she wanted to become a nurse. Florence Nightingale, who was born 200 years ago, is rightly famed for revolutionising nursing. [70], Her attention turned to the health of the British Army in India and she demonstrated that bad drainage, contaminated water, overcrowding and poor ventilation were causing the high death rate. Florence Nightingale in a hospital ward at Scutari (Üsküdar) during the Crimean War. Florence Nightingale, Monica E. Baly and H. C. G. Matthew, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In 1859 Florence Nightingale published her book Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not, a step-by-step guide explaining her methods for attending to the sick. The family moved back to England in 1821, with Nightingale being brought up in the family's homes at Embley, Hampshire, and Lea Hurst, Derbyshire. The carriage was damaged when the hospital was bombed during the Second World War. Despite her symptoms, she remained phenomenally productive in social reform. Florence Nightingale was born in the city of Florence, Italy, on 12 May 1820whilst her parents were enjoying a long honeymoon. And two English Lady superintendents have told me the same thing. She was raised on the family estate in Derbyshire, where she was provided with a classical education—languages, history, mathematics. [74] Her Crimean War statistics had convinced her that non-medical approaches were more effective given the state of knowledge at the time. [59][c] The offer of burial in Westminster Abbey was declined by her relatives and she is buried in the churchyard of St Margaret's Church in East Wellow, Hampshire, near Embley Park with a memorial of the utmost simplicity with just her initials and dates of birth and death. Florence Nightingale.[111]. Florence Nightingale David, also known as F. N. David (23 August 1909 – 23 July 1993) was an English statistician, born in Ivington, Herefordshire, England. [103], The Florence Nightingale Museum at St Thomas' Hospital in London reopened in May 2010 in time for the centenary of Nightingale's death. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers. Strachey regarded Nightingale as an intense, driven woman who was both personally intolerable and admirable in her achievements. She is a celebrated English social reformer, statistician, and the founder of modern nursing who gave nursing a favourable reputation and became a Victorian icon as "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night. Hospitals were places of last resort where the floors were laid with straw to soak up the blood. Nightingale believed religion helped provide people with the fortitude for arduous good work, and would ensure the nurses in her care attended religious services. Although she had been an invalid for a long time, rarely leaving her room, where she passed the time in a half-recumbent position and was under the constant care of a physician, her death was somewhat unexpected. Herbert would be Secretary of War again during the Crimean War, when he and his wife would be instrumental in facilitating Nightingale's nursing work in the Crimea. Nightingale was a shy girl who did not want to be the centre of attention socially. In her lifetime, much of her published work was concerned with spreading medical knowledge. [57], Some scholars of Nightingale's life believe that she remained chaste for her entire life, perhaps because she felt a religious calling to her career. The Feminist Press, 1979, p. 17. When they returned to England in 1821, the Nightingale family lived in two homes. This was an 829-page, three-volume work, which Nightingale had printed privately in 1860, but which until recently was never published in its entirety. She was also a pioneer in data visualization with the use of infographics, effectively using graphical presentations of statistical data. As she sorted out her thoughts, she wrote Suggestions for Thought to Searchers after Religious Truth. The Dickens character Sarah Gamp, who was more interested in drinking gin than looking after her patients, was only a mild exaggeration. Florence Nightingale's voice was saved for posterity in a phonograph recording from 1890 preserved in the British Library Sound Archive. [42] During 1850 and 1852, she was struggling with her self-definition and the expectations of an upper-class marriage from her family. Nightingale was put in charge of nursing British and allied soldiers in Turkey during the Crimean War. [102] The Nightingale-Macmillan continuing care unit is now at the Royal Derby Hospital, formerly known as The City Hospital, Derby. [71] Following the report The Royal Commission on India (1858–1863), which included drawings done by her cousin, artist Hilary Bonham Carter, with whom Nightingale had lived,[e] Nightingale concluded that the health of the army and the people of India had to go hand in hand and so campaigned to improve the sanitary conditions of the country as a whole. Her admirers include Country Joe of Country Joe and the Fish, who has assembled an extensive website in her honour. [89] Since 1965, International Nurses Day has been celebrated on her birthday (12 May) each year. [11] A BBC documentary states, "Florence and her older sister Parthenope benefited from their father's advanced ideas about women's education. During the Crimean war, Nightingale gained the nickname "The Lady with the Lamp" from a phrase in a report in The Times: She is a "ministering angel" without any exaggeration in these hospitals, and as her slender form glides quietly along each corridor, every poor fellow's face softens with gratitude at the sight of her. Medicines were in short supply, hygiene was being neglected, and mass infections were common, many of them fatal. There are three statues of Nightingale in Derby – one outside the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary (DRI), one in St Peter's Street, and one above the Nightingale-Macmillan Continuing Care Unit opposite the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. ", Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. Nightingale herself wandered the wards at night, providing support to the patients; this earned her the title of “Lady with the Lamp.” She gained the respect of the soldiers and medical establishment alike. This experience influenced her later career, when she advocated sanitary living conditions as of great importance. There was no equipment to process food for the patients. The first official nurses' training programme, her Nightingale School for Nurses, opened in 1860 and is now called the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery at King's College London. [citation needed], A stained glass window was commissioned for inclusion in the DRI chapel in the late 1950s. Nightingale was put in charge of nursing British and allied soldiers in Turkey during the Crimean War. For example, a dying young prostitute being tended by Nightingale was concerned she was going to hell, and said to her "Pray God, that you may never be in the despair I am in at this time". Nightingale was assisted in Paris by her friend Mary Clarke. [98], An appeal is being considered for the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary hospital in Derby, England to be named after Nightingale. ... Born in Florence, Italy #2. [91], The Nightingale Pledge is a modified version of the Hippocratic Oath which nurses recite at their pinning ceremony at the end of training. "[82], Despite being named as a Unitarian in several older sources, Nightingale's own rare references to conventional Unitarianism are mildly negative. Born in Florence, Italy, her parents decided to name her after the place of her birth, a tradition they had started with her older sister Frances Parthenope. [6], Nightingale made a comprehensive statistical study of sanitation in Indian rural life and was the leading figure in the introduction of improved medical care and public health service in India. Her approach to caring for wounded soldiers and training nurses in the 19th century saved and improved countless lives. Nightingale was fortunate. Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy. Her parents took their daughters to both Church of England and Methodist churches. She has a dream to serve the sick and poor. [37], The phrase was further popularised by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1857 poem "Santa Filomena":[38]. [h] She would sometimes comfort those in her care with this view. Florence Nightingale, byname Lady with the Lamp, (born May 12, 1820, Florence [Italy]—died August 13, 1910, London, England), British nurse, statistician, and social reformer who was the foundational philosopher of modern nursing. [132] A Dutch KLM McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 (registration PH-KCD) was also named in her honour. While her demeanour was often severe, she was said to be very charming and to possess a radiant smile. [25], Stephen Paget in the Dictionary of National Biography asserted that Nightingale reduced the death rate from 42% to 2%, either by making improvements in hygiene herself, or by calling for the Sanitary Commission. Florence Nightingale is born in Florence, Italy. For the 1951 film, see, Recorded to wax cylinder on 30 July 1890, to raise money for veterans of the. Nightingale was considered a pioneer in the concept of medical tourism as well, based on her 1856 letters describing spas in the Ottoman Empire. It was restored and transferred to the Army Medical Services Museum, now in Mytchett, Surrey, near Aldershot. Nightingale led an officially sanctioned party of 38 women, departing October 21, 1854, and arriving in Scutari at the Barrack Hospital on November 5. [67](p107), The Royal Sanitary Commission of 1868–1869 presented Nightingale with an opportunity to press for compulsory sanitation in private houses. Nightingale questioned the goodness of a God who would condemn souls to hell, and was a believer in universal reconciliation – the concept that even those who die without being saved will eventually make it to Heaven. Her biblical annotations, private journal notes and translations of the mystics give quite a different impression of her beliefs, and these do have a bearing on her work with nurses, and not only at Edinburgh, but neither [Cecil(ia) Woodham-]Smith nor [her] followers consulted their sources.". She disliked the role the 19th century Church of England would sometimes play in worsening the oppression of the poor. (Credit: Dansk Sygeplejerad) 1837 "Whilst in the gardens of her family home in Embley, Hampshire, Florence heard the voice of God calling her to do his work, but at this time had no idea what the work would be." [90] The President of India honours nursing professionals with the "National Florence Nightingale Award" every year on International Nurses Day. She was born May 12, 1820, to William “WEN” and Frances “Fanny” Nightingale in Florence, Italy. [116], Florence Nightingale's image appeared on the reverse of £10 Series D banknotes issued by the Bank of England from 1975 until 1994. Lo! He and Nightingale became lifelong close friends. The god gave her the gift of prophecy; when she refused his advances, he cursed her so that her prophetic warnings would go unheeded. [14], In Rome in 1847, she met Sidney Herbert, a politician who had been Secretary at War (1845–1846) who was on his honeymoon. Nelson, Sioban, and Anne Marie Rafferty, eds. The Nightingales belonged to elite social circles but Florence was reportedly awkward in social situations. According to Caroline Worthington, director of the Florence Nightingale Museum, "When she [Nightingale] started out there was no such thing as nursing. In 2006, the Japanese public ranked Nightingale number 17 in The Top 100 Historical Persons in Japan. Nightingale argued that secular hospitals usually provided better care than their religious counterparts. [124] Nightingale's note was in circulation alongside the images of Isaac Newton, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Michael Faraday, Sir Christopher Wren, the Duke of Wellington and George Stephenson, and prior to 2002, other than the female monarchs, she was the only woman whose image had ever adorned British paper currency. While in Athens, Greece, Nightingale rescued a juvenile little owl from a group of children who were tormenting it, and she named the owl Athena. Early years Born in an era when middle-class women were expected to simply make a good marriage and raise a family, Florence sensed a ‘calling’ from God at an early age and believed she was destined to do something greater with her life. Few nurses had access to the cholera wards, and Nightingale, who wanted to gain the confidence of army surgeons by waiting for official military orders for assistance, kept her party from the wards. Florence Nightingale was born into an upper class British family in 1820 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. [34] The second wave, headed by Mary Francis Bridgeman met with a cooler reception as Bridgeman refused to give up her authority over her Sisters to Nightingale while at the same time not trusting Nightingale, whom she regarded as ambitious.[35][36]. A week ago she was quite sick, but then improved and on Friday was cheerful. Her father believed women should be educated, and he personally taught her Italian, Latin, Greek, philosophy, history and – most unusual of all for women of the time – writing and mathematics. Ten times more soldiers died from illnesses such as typhus, typhoid, cholera, and dysentery than from battle wounds. For more information we recommend Mark Bostridge’s book “Florence Nightingale”, available from both our gift shop and online shop. Mary Clare Moore headed the first wave and placed herself and her Sisters under the authority of Nightingale. She detailed the health conditions, physical descriptions, dietary information, and other vital details of patients whom she directed there. Nightingale arrived early in November 1854 at Selimiye Barracks in Scutari (modern-day Üsküdar in Istanbul). "[110] Other monuments of Nightingale include a statue at Chiba University in Japan, and a bust at Tarlac State University in the Philippines. Historian of science I. Bernard Cohen argues: Nightingale's achievements are all the more impressive when they are considered against the background of social restraints on women in Victorian England. As of 2016, the Florence Nightingale Declaration has been signed by over 25,000 signatories from 106 countries. Florence Nightingale was a guiding force in the field of nursing. [6], In 2002, Nightingale was ranked number 52 in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote. Feminism, Lytton Strachey, and Florence Nightingale's Reputation, 1918–39. Florence Nightingale /ˈnaɪtɪŋɡeɪl/, OM, RRC, DStJ (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Cannadine, David. Norman L. Johnson, Samuel Kotz (2011). "[53][54] She often referred to herself in the masculine, as for example "a man of action" and "a man of business". Born on May 12, 1820 At age 17, she wrote about her “calling” in her diary, “God spoke to me and called me to His service.” Age 31 (1851) in Kaiserwerth, Germany, she completed her nursing training After her training, she became the superintendent of the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewoman in London. However, politics, not nursing expertise, was to shape her next move. [43], In the 1870s, Nightingale mentored Linda Richards, "America's first trained nurse", and enabled her to return to the United States with adequate training and knowledge to establish high-quality nursing schools. In the Crimea on 29 November 1855, the Nightingale Fund was established for the training of nurses during a public meeting to recognise Nightingale for her work in the war. She spent many hours in the wards, and her night rounds giving personal care to the wounded established her image as the “Lady with the Lamp.” Her efforts to formalize nursing education led her to establish the first scientifically based nursing school—the Nightingale School of Nursing, at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London (opened 1860). She recorded that "Clarkey" was a stimulating hostess who did not care for her appearance, and while her ideas did not always agree with those of her guests, "she was incapable of boring anyone." Nightingale scholar Lynn McDonald has dismissed these criticisms as "often preposterous", arguing they are not supported by the primary sources. Nightingale was also the subject of one of Lytton Strachey's four mercilessly provocative biographical essays, Eminent Victorians. Nurses today can take the Nightingale Pledge, a modified version of the Hippocratic Oath. Five days after Nightingale’s arrival in Scutari, injured soldiers from the Battle of Balaklava and the Battle of Inkerman arrived and overwhelmed the facility. Cassandra was a princess of Troy who served as a priestess in the temple of Apollo during the Trojan War. On March 30, 1856, the Treaty of Paris ended the Crimean War. It appeared at a time when the simple rules of health were only beginning to be known, when its topics were of vital importance not only for the well-being and recovery of patients, when hospitals were riddled with infection, when nurses were still mainly regarded as ignorant, uneducated persons. First Name Florence. She had access to people in high places and she used it to get things done. "Ever Yours, Florence Nightingale: Selected Letters.". Her behaviour was said to be exasperating and eccentric and she had little respect for upper-class British women, whom she regarded generally as inconsequential. Ellen was born on August 29 1802, in Ashover, Derbyshire, England. [88] It is the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve and is awarded to nurses or nursing aides for "exceptional courage and devotion to the wounded, sick or disabled or to civilian victims of a conflict or disaster" or "exemplary services or a creative and pioneering spirit in the areas of public health or nursing education". Warped by Victorian romanticism and our antiquated view of women, she has been taught for … In 1936, Kay Francis played Nightingale in the film titled The White Angel. NIGH also works to rekindle awareness about the important issues highlighted by Florence Nightingale, such as preventive medicine and holistic health. [133] Nightingale has appeared on international postage stamps, including, the UK, Alderney, Australia, Belgium, Dominica, Hungary (showing the Florence Nightingale medal awarded by the International Red Cross), and Germany. In 1951, The Lady with a Lamp starred Anna Neagle. The treatment there was significantly less expensive than in Switzerland. Not welcomed by the medical officers, Nightingale found conditions filthy, supplies inadequate, staff uncooperative, and overcrowding severe. There she learned basic nursing skills, the importance of patient observation, and the value of good hospital organization. The nurse replied "Oh, my girl, are you not now more merciful than the God you think you are going to? Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy, the city which inspired her name. Nightingale published "Cassandra," a feminist essay denouncing women's role in Victorian England. She belongs to that select band of historical characters who are instantly recognisable: the Lady with the Lamp, ministering to the wounded and dying. Clarkey made an exception, however, in the case of the Nightingale family and Florence in particular. With overcrowding, defective sewers and lack of ventilation, the Sanitary Commission had to be sent out by the British government to Scutari in March 1855, almost six months after Nightingale had arrived. [3] She gave nursing a favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.[4][5]. Bostridge, Mark (2008). After she returned to Britain and began collecting evidence before the Royal Commission on the Health of the Army, she came to believe that most of the soldiers at the hospital were killed by poor living conditions. [67], Indeed, Nightingale is described as "a true pioneer in the graphical representation of statistics", and is credited with developing a form of the pie chart now known as the polar area diagram,[67](p107) or occasionally the Nightingale rose diagram, equivalent to a modern circular histogram, to illustrate seasonal sources of patient mortality in the military field hospital she managed. At the same time she combined with the retired sanitary reformer Edwin Chadwick to persuade Stansfeld to devolve powers to enforce the law to Local Authorities, eliminating central control by medical technocrats. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Despite family reservations, Nightingale was eventually able to enroll at the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserswerth in Germany for two weeks of training in July 1850 and again for three months in July 1851. Mark Bostridge says, "There appears to be no documentary evidence to connect Florence with J. J. Despite their protests, Nightingale knew her time could be better spent serving others rather than hosting soirees. The two were to remain friends for the rest of their lives. [42] Another museum devoted to her is at her sister's family home, Claydon House, now a property of the National Trust. [7] 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 on her birthday. "[6], In 1838, her father took the family on a tour in Europe where he was introduced to the English-born Parisian hostess Mary Clarke, with whom Florence bonded. In 1993, Nest Entertainment released an animated film Florence Nightingale, describing her service as a nurse in the Crimean War. Florence's older sister Frances Parthenope had similarly been named after her place of birth, Parthenope, a Greek settlement now part of the city of Naples. The wards were cleaned and basic care was provided by the nurses. [6] Much of her writing, including her extensive work on religion and mysticism, has only been published posthumously. Her father, William Edward Nightingale (1794-1874), was son of William Shore, a Sheffield banker.