Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910)was the forerunner of the modern health
service. Florence Nightingale was not only the first modern nurse, but also an important
statistician. Thanks to his ambition and dedication, 19th-century hospitals have transformed into
appropriate treatment institutions, equipped with health care and specialist staff ready to care for
the sick at any time. Thanks to her altruism and personalities, Florence Nightingale devoted her
entire life to helping the sick in hospitals.

Biographical data

Florence Nightingale was born into a British family well positioned in society. Her parents,
William and Fanny Nightingale, were part of that category of wealthy people, real estate, open to
travel.
One of the trips made, namely that of 12 May 1820, from Florence, brought with it a new child,
namely Florence. The two daughters of the family were educated with the aim of becoming
future ladies in the British bourgeois world. However, Parthenope, Florence's older sister, was
interested in drawing, embroidery and culinary recipes, while Florence spent a lot of time
studying Latin, mathematics and philosophy. .
Florence Nightingale is said to have emotional problems since childhood, perhaps only if we
think that her father was a reclusive person, while her mother was enthusiastic and jovial. The
desire to help her fellow human beings emerged from adolescence, confirming her notes from
the diaries of that time.
Over time, his feelings became even stronger. She felt limited and useless and sought
occupations that would make sense of life. These strong desires contradicted his mother's plans,
which she wished to marry.

Young Florence Nightingale

The year 1837 was decisive in her life. As evidenced by his notes of February 17,Florence had a
revelation: God spoke to me and called me to His service. The claim gave rise to controversy, but
Florence was not a mentally ill person, nor was she a religious buff. It is precisely for this reason
that she cannot be accused of mysticism.
In 1839 the two sisters were presented to the Court and spent their holidays in London. It was the
time when their mother doubled her efforts to enlarge them.
Learning that Florence would become a nurse had violent consequences. During the Victorian
period, nurses were disregarded by the bourgeois class, the hospital was by no means the best
place for a future lady of society.
His parents categorically opposed their daughter's decision, forbidding her to take any action in
this regard. In the press, he gathered as much information as possible on the work of hospitals in
England, their health status and the treatment offered. He developed his plan to create an
appropriate medical treatment system.
During this period he met Sidney and Liz Herbert, the Secretary of State of England and his
wife, in Rome . When she turned 31, Florence decided to go to Germany- leaving behind the
restrictions imposed by her family to take specialist courses.
After returning to the Kingdom, Liz Herbert recommended her as principal of the Women's
Hospital in Harley Street. The institution, according to Charles Dickens, was transformed by
Florence into a real hospital: with kitchen, toilets, pharmacy, elevators and bells to seek help.
The true capacity of organization was not shown until 1854,during the Crimean War.

Crimean War

Florence's most famous contribution took place during the Crimean War. Conditions in hospitals
for Wounded British soldiers in Crimea, described by the first war reporter in history, Russell,
were frightening - lacked specialized medical care and hygiene was non-existent. To defuse the
situation, the British government decided to send someone capable of doing so, namely Florence
Nightingale. This, accompanied by 38 of her best nurses, arrived at the hospital on the front line
on October 21, 1854. The British bases were located in Scutari, (or Üsküdar, a suburb of
Istanbul), 545 km from Crimea .

There they discovered wounded soldiers ill-groomed by medical personnel completely

demoralized as a result of official indifference. On top of that, there was a lack of medicines,
hygiene was neglected, and mass infections were widespread, many of which were fatal. There is
no equipment for preparing food for patients. British doctors disregarded the nurses' contribution
to the postoperative recovery of the wounded.

Florence and her colleagues began by thoroughly cleaning the hospital and equipment, as well as
reorganizing patient care. But during his time in Scutari, the death rate did not decrease, but on
the contrary, it began to rise, being the largest of the hospitals in the region. During his first
winter at Scutari, 4,077 soldiers died, mostly from diseases such as typhus, cholera and
dysentery, not from injuries. In the hospital the conditions were miserable due to overpopulation,
poor ventilation and lack of sanitary facilities. A British government health commission was sent
at one point and settled these issues. Mortality has been reduced.

Nightingale continued to believe that the mortality rate had increased due to poor diet and
overloading with soldiers. After returning from Britain, she began collecting evidence to present
to the Royal Army Health Commission to show that most soldiers were killed by poor hospital
conditions. This experience influenced her even later in her career, she always supported the
importance of living conditions. As a result, he helped reduce mortality in the British army in
peacetime, turning attention to hygiene issues in hospitals.

With the increase in the number of wounded brought from the front, Florence's organizational
spirit was appreciated by the doctors. At the time, she became "Lady with the Lamp" because
nursing staff took a night tour of the wards. However, when the hospital started functioning
normally, she became so ill that, after returning to England at the age of 37, she was left
paralyzed in bed.

Returning home

With tenacity and ambition, she overstepped her disability, and led the organization of garrison
hospitals in England, created a health system in India,established and ran the health schools. No
one was bothered by the fact that, in practice, the consultations took place in Florence's bedroom
or by mail. Ministers, generals and directors asked her for her opinion, and she responded with
the same professionalism. He thus, throughout his life, came to write more than 17,000 letters,
which gives him a high place in the history of epistolography.
Thanks to her, the Military Medical Academy and the Nurses' School were established at St.
Thomas Hospital.

Over time, her depression, which returned to the influence of the disease, worsened. Florence has
limited contact with the outside to the minimum necessary. She felt alone and unfulfilled. He
never married, although to my mother's delight, at first he had many suitors. One of them,
Richard Monckton Milles, loved her all his life. Unfortunately, refused after seven years of
trying, he never returned.
In old age he reconciled with the people: he spent a lot of time with his nurses at picnics held at
his sister's property in Chaydon and visited his family. In 1901 she lost her sight for good, which
prevented her from carrying mail. Six years later, in recognition of his work, he was awarded the
Order for Outstanding Merit .

Florence Nightingale died on August 13, 1910 and was buried in the family vault of East
Wellow.

Statistical contributions

Florence Nightingale has developed the system of management of medical statistics. In the book
Notes on Nursing, she developed a revolutionary hierarchy for the time, on hygiene, nutrition,
room lighting and infant care.