The city of London features many memorials to prominent figures who made great contributions to the city’s development. One of these was Florence Nightingale, who became famous as the founder of modern nursing and social care. Read more at ilondon.info.
She was also an influential reformer and statistician. When discussing healthcare reform in the 19th and 20th centuries, the impact of Florence Nightingale cannot be overstated.
The Life of the Medical Pioneer
Florence Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820, in Florence, Italy, while her family was travelling there. The girl was named after her birthplace. A year later, her family returned to England. The family was highly regarded, and from childhood, the girl was devoted to serving others. As a teenager, she helped the poor and sick in the village near the family estate and felt that her calling was to care for the ill.
In 1844, she announced to everyone that she intended to become a nurse. Her parents disapproved of the decision and forbade her from pursuing the career. Despite her parents’ objections, Florence Nightingale spent four months training as a nurse at the Institute of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserswerth in Düsseldorf in 1850. She worked diligently to master the art and science of caring for the sick, resisting her family’s opposition and the restrictive social code for wealthy young Englishwomen. She secured her first nursing job in 1853 at the Institute for the Care of Sick Gentlewomen in London, where she also served as superintendent.
The Crimean War
Florence Nightingale is also famous for leading a group of 38 nurses who cared for British soldiers wounded during the Crimean War in 1854. When she and her staff arrived at the military hospital in Scutari, Turkey, they were appalled by the dreadful living conditions, the scarcity of medical supplies, poor hygiene, and mass infections. They immediately started cleaning and strictly instructed everyone to wash their hands more frequently. These measures drastically improved conditions and proved to be an effective way to halt the spread of disease. While checking on the sick during dark nights, the woman walked between the beds carrying a lamp. From that time on, she became known as “The Lady with the Lamp.”
Notably, Nightingale purchased all the necessary equipment using funds provided by the London newspaper The Times. She also devoted considerable attention to the soldiers’ psychological well-being, helping them write letters home and organising recreational and educational activities. Due to the significant reduction in the death rate, she became highly popular in England, widely reported by the press and mentioned in soldiers’ letters home.
Working at Home
After returning to England, Florence Nightingale was exhausted and suffering from brucellosis. In 1856, she met with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to discuss implementing reforms within the British military establishment.
As early as 1855, the Nightingale Fund was established out of respect for her work. By 1859, £45,000 had been collected through private donations, a significant portion of which she used to found the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, which opened in 1860. This school provided an opportunity for many women to gain a formal nursing education.
Her model of work was adopted worldwide, and her statistical tools, such as the Coxcomb diagram—which she developed to assess mortality—remain relevant today. From that point on, the woman has been considered the founder of the philosophy of nursing.
In London, Florence Nightingale lived at a house on South Street, Mayfair, where she continued her research, wrote books, and communicated with medical and political figures. Her work in healthcare was so profound that even after her death in 1910, her name remains synonymous with modern patient care. London, in turn, has preserved her memory in numerous memorials and the names of various medical institutions.