 Florence Nightingale,
1820-1910, an English nurse is remembered for her work
during the Crimean War. And, as the founder of modern nursing. She
predated the wellness
movement. Nightingale is, also, known for her ideas on building
hygiene, holistic nursing, and natural healing.
She was born in Florence, Italy to a very wealthy
family. The Nightingale family returned to England in 1821. Religion
played an important part in Nightingale's life. In 1837, she reportedly
received a divine calling from God. Inspired, she soon developed an
interest in both nursing, a career with a bad reputation, and in
helping the poor. Despite initial opposition from her parents, she
eventually trained to be a nurse.
In 1854 the Crimean War started. She soon lead a group
of three dozen nurses to serve in British military hospitals in
Constantinople. The following year, Nightingale came down with Crimean
Fever. Florence Nightingale was called The Lady With the Lamp for her
compassionate nursing of British soldiers, even during the night. "Nightingale
transformed the poorly ventilated, vermin-infested Barrack Hospital in
Scutari into a clean, well-managed facility, and within six months the
death rate fell from 40 to 2 percent."[3]
Her outspoken Notes on Matters Affecting the Health,
Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army, and Notes
on Hospitals helped create significant hygienic reform that resulted in
overall better treatment of patients. But, in 1859, Nightingale
published her most famous book: Notes
on Nursing. She founded the Nightingale Training School for nurses
in 1860. Due to the founding of her nursing school Nightingale had
managed to transform nursing from its disreputable past into a
respectable profession for women. A tireless campaigner for hospital
reform Nightingale used statistical analysis to prove that most
soldiers had died during the Crimean War from poor living conditions.
As a result, Nightingale was also known for being an excellent
statistician.
Florence Nightingale lived a long life of 90 years, but
much of it at the end was bed ridden.
Who was Florence Nightengale?
"Florence Nightingale recognized the importance of
caring for the whole person and encouraged interventions that enhanced
individuals' abilities to draw upon their own healing powers. She
considered touch, light, aromatics, empathetic listening, music, quiet
reflection, and similar healing measures as essential ingredients to
good nursing care."[2]
Books Written by Florence Nightingale
- 1858 Notes on Matters Affecting the Health,
Efficiency, and Hospital Administration of the British Army
- 1859 Notes
on Nursing
- 1859 A Contribution to the the Sanitary History of
the British Army During the Late War with Russia
- 1859 Notes on Hospitals
- 1873 Life or Death in India (paper)
- 1876 On Trained Nurses for the Sick Poor
- 1894 Rural
Hygiene (pamphlet)
Organizations that are carrying on the work started by
Florence Nightengale
- Florence
Nightingale Museum Trust, London, England.
- American Holistic Nursing Association (AHNA), Dr.
Barbara Dossey, founder of the American Holistic Nursing Association,
wrote an inspiring and insightful biography of Florence Nightingale.
And, the AHNA credited Nightingale for being the first holistic nurse
in a position statement.[2]
- Journal
of Holistic Nursing, Florence Nightingale Tribute Issue, June
1 1998, Volume 16, No. 2. (The Official Journal of the American
Holistic Nursing Association)
References
- Hugh Small, Florence Nightingale, Avenging Angel,
London, Constable, 1998.
- American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA), Position
Statements, 2004.
- Nursing, University of Toledo Libraries
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