Not just any nurse. In 1856, and according to Sir John Hall, chief British Medical Officer in the Crimea, Florence Nightingale was ‘a publicity seeking meddler’. To this day, her methods and forcefulness are controversial. At the age of 25, her parents balked - she wanted to be a nurse. She rejected a marriage proposal, an expectation of women at that time, due to what she knew as a calling’. At the age of 30, her parents acquiesced and she began her career.
The Lady with the Lamp,
challenged the military medical community throughout the Crimean War. Conditions in military hospitals her prime concern. Extremely poor sanitation. Overcrowding in unclean, bloodied clothing and bedding. No one person responsible on the wards. Overworked doctors. Women and men, learning on the job, cared for
severely injured and ill soldiers.
Historically, her career, as a reformer of the health care system as a promoter of training for nurses. Should patient advocate be added to her resume? Florence Nightingale an angel of mercy for the patients in her charge became a thorn in the side of the medical establishment of the day, not to mention those that entered nurses training schools. She ran her hospitals and schools with military order, an efficiency unwelcome in today's world.
Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery,
the first professional school of nursing, still active today,
was founded in 1860. Florence Nightingale ~ strong, determined, courageous and stubborn in an age when women dared not overrule men or the establishment unless independently monied or with supportive family connections
Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation
and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really
earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation.
~ Susan B. Anthony, 1860
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