Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale is one of the famous lady in the world. Florence  Nightingale (1820-1910), commonly called the ‘lady with the lamp’ , British nurse , hospital reformer, and humanitarian was in Florence, Italy, on May 12 , 1820 A.D . She was raised mostly in Derbyshire and received a classical education from her father. She went abroad to study the European hospital system in 1849 A.D. In 1850 A.D , She began training in nursing at the institute of St. Vincent de Paul in Alexandria, Egypt. She subsequently studied at the Institute for Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserswerth, Germany.

After the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 A.D , Nightingale came to know that many of the British shoulders were dying of the primitive sanitary conditions and grossly inadequate nursing facilities at the large British barracks-hospital at Uskudar which was formerly called Scutari. She then set out for Uskudar accompanied by 38 nurses.

When she reached the rat – infested barracks, she found many of the wounded soldiers without beds , lying on the floor , a shortage of bandages , and no soap , towels, or washbasins. She immediately set about organizing  the cleaning of the barracks . She then established a schedule for nursing care and diets. At night she used to walk in the corridors with her lamp, checking on the soldiers, a habit for which she came to known as the ‘ the lady with the lamp’ . Under her supervision, efficient nursing departments were established at Uskudar and later at Balaklava in the Crimea. The mortality rate among the sick and wounded was greatly reduced through her  tireless efforts .

With a fund raised in tribute to her services, Nightingale founded the Nightingale School and home for nurses at St. Thomas Hospital, London at the war in 1860 A.D. The opening of this school marked the beginning of professional education in nursing . Her contribution to the evolution of nursing as a profession were invaluable. Before she under took her reforms , nurses were largely untrained personnel who consider their job a menial chore.

She received many honours from national as well as foreign government. In 1907 A.D . She became the first woman to receive the Order of Merit. She died in London on August 13, 1910 A.D. In 1915 A.D., the Crimean  Monument  in Waterloo Place, London, was  erected in her honour. Notes on nursing (1860), the first textbook for nurses , which was translated into many languages, Notes on Hospitals (1859) and Notes on Nursing for the Laboring Classes (1861) were sum of her publications.