Florence Nightingale

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE(The lady with the lamp)

(12 May 1820 – 13 Aug 1910)

• Born - in Florence, Italy on May 12, 1820.

• Second daughter of wealthy English parents. She and her sister had a carefree

• Learnt Latin, German, French, Italian, Greek, Mathematics, Science, Politics, music and drawing.

• Traveled widely and met many outstanding people

EARLY LIFE

Florence Nightingale and her sister Parthenope received a thorough classical education from their father.

• Interested in politics

• But attracted to social conditions and charitable institution

• Driven by attraction to nursing – A ‘ calling’ to fulfill a ‘Mission of mercy’

• Visited several convents, hospitals, schools, orphanages

• Went to Kaiserwerth for 3 months training in Nursing

• Formed ideas about organized training for nurses

• At 33 years of age – Became Superintendent of an ‘Establishment for gentle women during illness’

• Here, she brought about changes and showed her exceptional ability as an organizer and an administrator

HER AMBITION IN LIFE…..

• Russia & France had religious sisters to care for their wounded

• But England had only trained men

• F Nightingale received a letter of appeal from the Minister of war

• With 38 nurses from Catholic and Protestant Orders she set for Crimea

THE CRIMEAN WAR (1854 – 1856) England and France were helping Turkey in a war against Russia.

Wounded soldiers were transported by sea to the

hospitals

• She was appalled and horrified with what she saw

• Wards were crowded, dirty, poorly ventilated, with filth and vermin and no water or sanitary facilities

• Food was poorly cooked and served at long intervals

• Soldiers lay on straw mats. The floor was covered with dirt and blood. The men still wore their blood soaked uniforms.

• They died of cholera and contagious disease that of wounds

They reached the Barracks Hospital at Scutari which had 1500 patients…

Through her tireless efforts the mortality rate among the sick and the wounded was

greatly reduced (from 42% to 2%)

• 5 – 6 nurses shared one room including eating and sleeping. They -

• Scrubbed and cleaned, improved drainage

• Procured soaps, towels and clothing

• Opened diet kitchens, made good food

• Visited the sick and wrote letters for them

• Set up laundries, reading rooms and post offices for them

The soldiers kissed her shadow as she passed by and got

solace from their sufferings

• 1855 – Florence Nightingale contracted the Crimean fever

• But she continued to work for a number of years in Scutari

• She reported to London about ways to improve conditions, and assumed care of the patients at night, moving about each floor comforting patients with a lamp in hand.

• This intimate relationship with her patients earned her the affectionate title of

"Lady with the Lamp."

THE LADY WITH THE LAMP….

• Once back in London after the war, she founded the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses using money donated in tribute to her services.

• The school marked the beginning of professional education in the nursing field.

• Her book Notes on hospitals’ and ‘Notes on Nursing’ became the first definitive textbook for the field.

THE NIGHTINGALE SCHOOL OF NURSING

A FACELIFT TO NURSING• Through selfless devotion and

sheer determination, Florence Nightingale transformed the profession of nursing forever.

• She gave dignity and honor to Nursing, and revolutionized hospital conditions, making them more organized and above all, sanitary.

• 1907 – King Edward conferred on her the ‘Order of Merit’

HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO NURSING

• Florence nightingale founded many Schools of Nursing to provide sound theoretical and practical basis in the training of nurses to care for the sick.

• She was the first to stress on following aseptic precautions while caring for the patient.

• Her favourite dictum was, “Do the Patient no harm”

• Florence Nightingale lived to a ripe old age of 90 years.

• 13 Aug 1910 - She died peacefully in her sleep

• Today the Nurses take the Florence Nightingale pledge before being formally initiated into the profession of Nursing.

"The ultimate destination of all nursing is the nursing of the sick in their own homes.... I look to the abolition of all hospitals and workhouse infirmaries."

– Florence Nightingale

THE NIGHTINGALE PLEDGE