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Florence Nightingale is a name that the British know well. Whenever you walk into a hospital here, there is usually an entire Wing dedicated to her. She was one of the most influential women of her time and her work is still being appreciated today!
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Although she was born in Florence, Italy, she was raised by her upper class family in England. Women of her background were never meant for jobs such as nursing – this was supposed to be a job for poor women. Her family (and general society) disapproved, but she believed that God was calling her to nursing and fought to spend her life improving the terrible hospital conditions.
In the 1800’s women were not treated as men’s equals but that didn’t seem to be able to stop her from her success. She completely renovated the hospital system here. She made them cleaner, more efficient and organised. I learnt about Florence Nightingale in school. One of the things I remember most was the time she was sent to a Turkish hospital where the British Army was being treated. She was so appalled by the conditions there that she spent her OWN money to buy new bandages, better food and cleaning tools. She even watched over patients during the night and walked from bed to bed with her lamp. That’s the reason why her patients called her ‘the Lady with the Lamp’.
But it wasn’t easy for Florence and that’s why we love her for carrying on with her fantastic work. Some men were threatened by her as she was changing so much of the hospital system and to them she was ‘just’ a woman nurse!
They tried to get rid of her but her patients- the people she had been caring for day and night – stuck up for her and even raised money for her to carry on with her work.
Florence Nightingale dedicated her life to caring for the sick in harsh conditions and fought against people’s disapproval of what she was doing. She transformed the hospital system for us and for that we will always be grateful.