Who was florence nightingale professional#

In her youth she was respectful of her family's opposition to her working as a nurse, only announcing her decision to enter the field in 1844. Nightingale underwent the first of several experiences that she believed were calls from God in February 1837 while at Embley Park, prompting a strong desire to devote her life to the service of others. Clarke demonstrated that women could be equals to men, an idea that Florence had not obtained from her mother. She and Florence were to remain close friends for 40 years despite their 27 year age difference. Clarkey made an exception, however, in the case of the Nightingale family and Florence in particular. She generally rejected female company and spent her time with male intellectuals. She said that if given the choice between being a woman or a galley slave, then she would choose the freedom of the galleys. She recorded that 'Clarkey' was a stimulating hostess who did not care for her appearance, and while her ideas did not always agree with those of her guests, 'she was incapable of boring anyone.' Her behaviour was said to be exasperating and eccentric and she had no respect for upper-class British women, whom she regarded generally as inconsequential. In 1838, her father took the family on a tour in Europe where he was introduced to the English-born Parisian hostess Mary Clarke, with whom Florence bonded. Fanny's father (Florence's maternal grandfather) was the abolitionist and Unitarian William Smith. William's mother Mary née Evans was the niece of Peter Nightingale, under the terms of whose will William inherited his estate at Lea Hurst, and assumed the name and arms of Nightingale. Her parents were William Edward Nightingale, born William Edward Shore (1794–1874) and Frances ('Fanny') Nightingale née Smith (1788–1880).

The family moved back to England in 1821, with Nightingale being brought up in the family's homes at Embley, Hampshire and Lea Hurst, Derbyshire.įlorence inherited a liberal-humanitarian outlook from both sides of her family. Florence's older sister Frances Parthenope had similarly been named after her place of birth, Parthenope, a Greek settlement now part of the city of Naples. 6.2 Literature and the women's movementįlorence Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820 into a wealthy, upper class and well-connected British family at the Villa Colombaia, in Florence, Tuscany, Italy, and was named after the city of her birth.She was also a pioneer in data visualization with the use of infographics, effectively using graphical presentations of statistical data. Much of her writing, including her extensive work on religion and mysticism, has only been published posthumously. Some of her tracts were written in simple English so that they could easily be understood by those with poor literary skills. In her lifetime, much of her published work was concerned with spreading medical knowledge. Nightingale was a prodigious and versatile writer.

Her social reforms included improving healthcare for all sections of British society, advocating better hunger relief in India, helping to abolish prostitution laws that were harsh for women, and expanding the acceptable forms of female participation in the workforce. In recognition of her pioneering work in nursing, the Nightingale Pledge taken by new nurses, and the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve, were named in her honour, and the annual International Nurses Day is celebrated on her birthday. It was the first secular nursing school in the world, and is now part of King's College London.

Who was florence nightingale professional#

Recent commentators have asserted Nightingale's Crimean War achievements were exaggerated by media at the time, but critics agree on the importance of her later work in professionalising nursing roles for women. In 1860, Nightingale laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas' Hospital in London. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers. She gave nursing a favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of 'The Lady with the Lamp' making rounds of wounded soldiers at night. Florence Nightingale, (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing.