Florence Nightingale The Lady with the Lamp

12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910 Florence is well known for her nursing work during the Crimean war. She laid the foundations of a professional nursing, and some ideas established over a hundred years ago are still in use nowadays. She was also a statistician and a writer. International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on her birth day. 1820 - 1910

Family Born in Florence, Italy British parents: William and Frances Nightingale Older sister: Parthenope Florence’s parents were rich, upper-class people. Nightingale was named after the city where she was born - Florence. Similarly, her sister has been named after her place of birth, Parthenopolis, a Greek settlement now part of the city of Naples.

Education Educated by her father Liked algebra and statistics Very religious Her father was well educated man, who studied in Cambridge. Florence liked mathematics, and studied algebra and statistics. These studies helped her to collect statistics and prove that her nursing method was very effective. Nightingale was a religious woman. After she experienced what she named a divine calling, Florence dedicated her whole life to helping others.

Nursing studies Angered her parents Studied in Egypt and Germany Worked as superintendent at the Institution for the Care of Sick Gentlewomen, London In mid 19th century nursing was not considered to be a suitable profession for a well educated woman. During her studies, Florence traveled around Europe, and spend a lot of time studying in Egypt. Establishment for Gentlewomen During Temporary Illness at 90 Harley Street, London. This institution later has been renamed to Florence Nightingale Hospital for Gentlewomen and moved to a new location - 19 Lisson Grove, London. Superintendent - manager, administrator, supervisor.

Crimean war A conflict between Russia and British, French, Ottoman alliance Fought over control of Crimean peninsula Allies won, but experienced a lot of casualties Ottoman empire was very weak and unstable. Russia wanted to gain control over it, but British and French empires did not want to allow this. Most of the conflict took place on Crimean peninsula, but there were smaller outbreaks of war in Caucasus, the Baltic Sea, Pacific Ocean and the White Sea. Ten times more soldiers died from illnesses such as typhus, typhoid, cholera and dysentery than from battle wounds.

Crimean peninsula Crimean peninsula is located in the south of Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea. It is now an autonomous republic of Crimea, but still belongs to Ukraine as autonomous unit.

Bad conditions 42 out of 100 soldiers died in hospital Bad sanitary caused diseases like typhus, typhoid, cholera and dysentery Medicines were in short supply, hygiene was being neglected Typhus - spread by body louse. Causes high temperature (39C), skin rash, muscle pain and delirium. Typhoid - transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person. Fever as high as 40C, delirium and diarrhoea, vomiting. Cholera - an infection of the small intestine caused by bacteria. The main symptoms are profuse, watery diarrhoea, vomiting. Person can loose up to 20l of water per day, and dies if not treated. Dysentery - inflammation of the intestine, especially colon. Symptoms are extreme diarrhoea, containing mucus, blood and feces.

Improvements Arranged better supplies of food and medicine Sanitary conditions were improved, and soldiers received better care Death rate dropped to only 2 persons out of 100 On 21 October 1854 Florence and a staff of 38 voluntary nurses were sent to Crimea, Scutari. Soon after arrival she was ignored by the local medical staff (mostly men), but soon the conditions became so bad, and the situation got out of control, that she was asked to help. She soon took over the control of nursing tasks, allowing doctors and surgeons to concentrate on more important tasks.

The Lady with the Lamp The Times wrote at the time: Lo! in that house of misery A lady with a lamp I see Pass through the glimmering gloom, And flit from room to room. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1857 The Times wrote at the time: “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. When all the medical officers have retired for the night and silence and darkness have settled down upon those miles of prostrate sick, she may be observed alone, with a little lamp in her hand, making her solitary rounds.”

Later career Established Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifing Wrote a book “Notes on Nursing” Advocated for the improvement of care and conditions in hospitals Notes on Nursing also sold well to the general reading public and is considered a classic introduction to nursing. Nightingale spent the rest of her life promoting the establishment and development of the nursing profession and organising it into its modern form. In the introduction to the 1974 edition, Joan Quixley of the Nightingale School of Nursing wrote: "The book was the first of its kind ever to be written. 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. The book has, inevitably, its place in the history of nursing, for it was written by the founder of modern nursing".

1820 - 1910