Florence Nightingale the founder of modern nursing

Kamis, 12 Juli 2012

Florence Nightingale the founder of modern nursing

England was at war with Russian in the mid of nineteenth century. English Army was fighting in the Crimea. The times reporter, William Russel, wrote the bad condition at Scutary in Turkey. There was an old barrack there. The building was swarming with mice. There were few beds and many wounded men lying on the floor. The nurses were old soldiers, who know nothing of nursing. Even though this place was horrible, it was overcrowded.

Sidney Herbert, The minister of war, wrote to Florence Nightingale to go out to the Crimea with a group of nurses. Florence Nightingale was ready to go with thirty-eight nurses. She sailed for Scutary.

Florence Nightingale was born in Florence in 1820. She was highly educated in music, art, literature, Latin and Greek. She spoke Italian, French and German. She had nursed villagers, cats, and dogs since she was a child. Her parents did not want her to be a nurse because at her time woman of the lower society did nursing. Florence insisted to her dream.

She was interested in nursing. She visited hospitals every time she went abroad. She loved reading books of nursing, medical society, and history of hospitals. She worked some weeks at a hospital as a sister in Paris. She took three months nursing schools at Kaiserwerth in Germany. Finally, her mother agreed to Florence being superintendent of an “Establishment for Gentlewomen during illness” in Harley street. Florence was living there when the Crimean war broke out.

She arrived at Scutary. The condition was terrible. There were no bandages, few medicines, and lack of food. She brought a lot of food and medical supplies. She sometime spent her money for boots, socks, blankets, shirts, because of the army regulations; she could not supply essential stores immediately. She did not care about the regulations.

She often worked over time, dressing wounds, helping surgeons in operation and comforting the dying. Soldiers knew her as “ Lady with the lamp”. She and her nurses cooked the best meal, scrubbed floors and walls. She did a great job. The rate of death fell from sixty every one thousand to three every one thousand.

She became Inspector of all hospitals in the Crimea in 1856. She got fever but continued her work from her bed. She went home in 1856 after peace was declared. She brought changes in English life.

Even though she had the same opposition from “ officials” she got support from Queen Victoria. She changed the whole system of hospital organization of the army. She reformed the health service in India. She wrote books of nursing. She opened the Nightingale Training School for nurses at St. Thomas’s Hospital, now one of the finest in the world. She received merit the highest civil honour in 1907. She died in 1910.