A woman paved the way for the 'heroic work' of nurses today

Florence Nightingale's limitless passion and dedication to serving humanity 

Florence is the city in Italy, where Nightingale was born. She belonged to a wealthy aristocratic family and was the second of two daughters to William Edward and Frances Nightingale.  

Florence was a precocious child intellectually. Her father took particular interest in her education, guiding her through history,philospohy and literature. She excelled in mathematics and languages and was able to read and write French,German,Italian,Greek and latin at an early age. Never satisfied with the traditional female home management skills, she preferred to read the great philosophers and engage in serious political and social discourse with her father.

As a teenager, she believed that she had heard a call from God encouraging her to help the sick and poor. From a very young age, she was active in philanthropy, ministering to the ill and poor people in the village neighboring her family’s estate. Nightingale eventually concluded that nursing was her calling; she believed the vocation to be her divine purpose.

In 1849, Nightingale refused a marriage proposal from a "suitable" gentleman, Richard Monckton Milnes, who had pursued her for years. She explained her reason for turning him down, saying that while he stimulated her intellectually and romantically, her "moral…active nature" called for something beyond domestic life. Nightingale turned down multiple marriage proposals because she felt it would interfere with her duty of caring for others. 

During the Victorian Era, nursing was viewed by the upper social classes as lowly menial labor. It was not seen as a respectable job at the time. When Nightingale approached her parents and told them about her ambitions to become a nurse, they were not pleased and forbade her to pursue appropriate training. Her ambitions were particularly controversial given her upper-class background. 

Determined to pursue her true calling despite her parents' objections, Nightingale eventually enrolled for two weeks of training as a nursing student in 1850 and again for three months in July 1851at the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses in Kaiserswerth, Germany. There she learned basic nursing skills, the importance of patient observation, and the value of good hospital organization. 

By 1853, Florence freed herself from her restrictive family and, using her social connections, took an unpaid position working as the superintendent of the Institution for Sick Gentlewomen (governesses) in Distressed Circumstances in London, where she successfully displayed her skills as an administrator by improving nursing care, working conditions, and efficiency of the hospital. After one year she began to realize that her services would be more valuable in an institution that would allow her to train nurses. With politics, She was able to make her next move by becoming the superintendent of nurses at King’s College Hospital in London. 

Despite criticisms; being a woman, she gained respect for her deeds and was named as 'Lady with the lamp'

In October 1853, the Crimean War began, fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of British, French, and Turkish Ottomans on the other following a series of disputes over holy places in Jerusalem and Russia. The majority of the Crimean War was fought on theCrimean Peninsula in Russia. 

Newspapers regularly reported on the poor conditions and lack of medical care for soldiers. The reports stated that soldiers were treated by an incompetent and ineffective medical establishment and that the most basic supplies were not available for care. The British public raised an outcry over the treatment of the soldiers and demanded that the situation be drastically improved.

In 1854, Sidney Herbert, secretary of state at war for the British government, wrote to Nightingale requesting that she lead a group of nurses to Scutari, the site of a British hospital now in Istanbul. Nightingale led an officially sanctioned party of 38 women and arrived in Scutari at the Barrack Hospital. Her party was not welcomed by officers, however, and she quickly realized how bad conditions were, from insufficient supplies to dirty, overcrowded rooms. She even called the Barrack Hospital the ‘Kingdom of Hell.’ 

In order to care for the soldiers properly, it was necessary that adequate supplies be obtained. Nightingale bought equipment with funds provided by the 'London Times' and enlisted soldiers’ wives to assist with the laundry. Although the male doctors at the institution saw Nightingale’s suggestions as criticisms, she remained steadfast, taking several measures to improve sanitation and hygiene at the hospital, including washing the linens and towels, purchasing necessary kitchen supplies, and emphasizing hand-washing with soap and water, which was not widely practiced at the time. 

Under Florence’s watch, wards were properly cleaned and standards of care were established. This also included attending to dressings and feeding and bathing soldiers regularly. Attention was given to psychological needs through assistance in writing letters to relatives and through providing educational and recreational activities. Nightingale herself wandered the wards at night, providing support to the patients; this earned her the title of “Lady with the Lamp.” 

Florence soon gained the respect of the soldiers and medical establishment alike. Her work was widely reported in the press at the time, shared through soldiers’ letters and She quickly gained fame. 

Nightingale utilized her privileges for better improvement of health facilities

By the time Florence returned home in August 1856, she was an icon shortly after arriving, she fell ill with “Crimean fever”—most likely brucellosis, which she probably contracted from drinking contaminated milk. Nightingale experienced a slow recovery, as no active treatment was available. The lingering effects of the disease were to last for 25 years, frequently confining her to bed because of severe chronic pain and preventing her from continuing her work as a nurse.

Nightingale’s time at Scutari prompted several innovations that she would develop in the later years of her life. Having learned from the experiences, in the years that followed, she championed sanitary health—and cemented her status as a 'National Hero'. 

Florence’s persona was particularly popular, with her often being represented as a ‘ministering angel’, mirroring common social impressions of women as selfless guardians and caretakers. Many photographs of Florence were made, shared, and collected, and Florence figurines, dolls, and models were produced as popular objects. 

Florence did not enjoy her fame and was reluctant to be in the spotlight. She prioritized the establishment of nursing as a respected profession. She used her influence to campaign for better healthcare in England and to encourage public respect for nursing. 

Despite battling depression and being intermittently bedridden, Nightingale wrote thousands of letters campaigning for public health and workhouse reform. Her efforts were high-profile. She used her influence to network with Queen Victoria and prominent politicians.

The Nightingale Fund, set up in 1855, raised money to open the 'Nightingale School of Nursing' at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, in 1860. She founded the first Secular Nursing school in the world. Nightingale’s nursing school taught skills that went on to form the basis of modern nursing.

Nightingale's achievements are the legacy that still shines brightly, just like her lamp 

In correspondence with other hospitals around the world, from Sydney to New York City, Nightingale shared her knowledge and the resources of the “Nightingale Nurses” that had been trained through her school. It was also from her experience in Crimea that she learned about efficient hospital planning and design. Significantly, Nightingale backed up her campaigns with evidence, statistics, and data visualizations that were easy to understand, using diagrams to show the effects of infection and mortality rates in the Crimean War. 

In 1859, she published the book ‘Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not’, held in the collection at Claydon is still regarded today as a pioneering text, was written in simple language intended for women nursing in the home to understand.

Florence also strongly influenced the essential status of the Red Cross, which can be seen in the armbands, ribbons, aprons, medals, and letters found everywhere. In 1883, she was celebrated with dedicated Red Cross medals that show the long-term importance of her work.

Being a reformer She participated in various empowering activities and helped to abolish Prostitution laws. She was a scientist, a data-gatherer, a writer, a trainer, a manager, an organizer, an analyst, and a campaigner. Finally, in her 60s, her symptoms began to dissipate. on 13 August 1910, at the age of 90, Nightingale died due to heart failure. Today, the Immortal 'Lady with the lamp' is revered as the 'Pioneer of Modern Nursing'.

(Note:Content resources are drawn from Florence Nightingale biographies and U.K Times)