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Florence Nightingale was a Victorian nurse, author, mathematician, and women’s rights activist. She is best known for her work during the Crimean War, where she improved medical care for wounded soldiers. She also founded a nursing school and promoted public health campaigns. Despite facing opposition from the medical community, she made significant contributions to the field of nursing.
Florence Nightingale was a Victorian woman who is perhaps best remembered for her contributions to the field of nursing. In addition to being a pioneer in the field of nursing, this remarkable woman also contributed to the achievements of the women’s rights movement and was an accomplished author and mathematician. Many people familiar with her in the context of nursing are surprised to learn that she was a very talented statistician.
Nightingale was born in 1820 to upper-class parents. She was named for Florence, Italy, the city where she was born; her sister Parthenope was also nominated for a Mediterranean settlement. Florence Nightingale was born extremely fortunate, for in addition to being wealthy, her parents were also the descendants of compassionate reformers, including members of the abolition movement. Nightingale’s parents encouraged her to seek an education, with her father acting as her guardian before handing her over to James Joseph Sylvester, a noted mathematician of the time.
In 1837, Florence Nightingale experienced what she felt was a calling from God, and in 1845 she was determined to become a nurse. Her parents were dismayed and tried to dissuade her from a career in nursing, but she overruled them, feeling her calling was too strong to ignore. In 1853 she was nursing superintendent in a private hospital in London.
At the outbreak of the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale raised a team of nurses and insisted on going to the front to work in field hospitals. By the 1800s, this sort of thing was unheard of, and military officials only reluctantly agreed. Florence Nightingale proved to be an indefatigable nurse at the front, earning her the nickname “The Lady with the Lamp” in reference to her tendency to roam the wards after dark with a lamp to check on her patients. She also campaigned for significant reforms to improve conditions in field hospitals, and is often credited with being one of the first people to substantially improve medical care for wounded soldiers.
Upon her return to London, Florence Nightingale continued her career as a nurse, reformer and writer, lobbying particularly hard for London’s impoverished citizens. She initiated a number of public health campaigns, founded a nursing school that still exists today, and promoted better hygiene in British hospitals, among many other things. She was honored for her efforts in 1883 by Queen Victoria with the Order of the Red Cross, and again in 1907 by King Edward VII with the Order of Merit.
Florence Nightingale’s career would have been notable in any era, but it is especially notable when one considers the fact that the Victorian era was a difficult time for professional women, and Nightingale faced considerable opposition from the medical community due to the its kind. She also had to contend with a chronic illness, being bedridden for the last few years of her life and eventually dying at the age of 90 in her sleep.
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