Florence Nightingale

sanakruz, ADN · Apr 4, 2003

I agree she was a remarkable woman-

But lets find somebody new. Reckon we need a good spin Dr.(spin nurse?) I dont know what Unison is either......

rebelwaclause, ASN, RN · Apr 4, 2003

I guess I'm one of the ones who don't know much about her. Is it true she died of some untreated STD from "scratching to many itches" from infected men? If so, what a foul way to go.

RNKerry · Apr 4, 2003

If nurses ignore their historical leaders and what they represented then we will be lost. How can we benchmark our acheivements as a profession if we forget these women who have helped to take us out of the convents and whorehouses. Are we also to forget Sr Kenny? Another nurse ahead of her time. Lets not forget that these women not only advanced our profession but also have exerted great influence over the medical profession in their time, if nurses ignore their own accomplishments then that will suit the medical profession quite well to also ignore them and to continue to see us their subordinates rather than as the coworkers we truly are.

sanakruz, ADN · Apr 4, 2003

I dont know who Sr. Kenny is either.

I do know who Dorothea Dix was and how she advocated for humane treatment of the mentally ill.

There is at least one hosp. in the Southern USA named after her.

I think she's a marvelous role model and symbol

I think we need to get rid of the Nightengale Oath and the Idea of morning for her (Flo) by wearing a cap with a black strip-

Nobody likes a martyr, for cripes sake!

Good_Queen_Bess · Apr 4, 2003

Unison is a union in Britain. It doesn't just represent and support nurses, but also many other public sector workers.

RNKerry · Apr 5, 2003

Sr Kenny was an Australian who treated polio with more success than the medical proffession and in fact treated one of the American presidents. I thought she was world famous, obviously I was wrong. I see no need to mourn for Flo just to acknowledge her place in our proffessional history

sanakruz, ADN · Apr 5, 2003

That prez would no doubt be Franklin Roosevelt.

His polio was kept pretty much a secret and he was presented to the public as a robust man, when in fact was not.

gwenith, BSN, RN · Apr 5, 2003

Sorry RnKerry but if anyone was to put up Sr Kenny as a leader of the field it would be physiotherapy (no sad but true) as for FLO who WOULD take her place. That no true documentaries and (hold my breath) movies have been made about her is proof that themedia have NO idea about nursing and couldn.t care less. Sanitation engineers get a better deal from the media than we do!

But then I don't really want to see a movie about Florence because it would probably end up as a cross between "the English Patient" and "Love Story" with a bit of "Farewell to Arms" thrown in.

Stargazer · Apr 5, 2003

Originally posted by gwenith
But then I don't really want to see a movie about Florence because it would probably end up as a cross between "the English Patient" and "Love Story" with a bit of "Farewell to Arms" thrown in.

Isn't that the truth?

roxannekkb · Apr 5, 2003

Actually, Florence Nightingale didn't write the Nightingale oath. But I agree, it is a rather silly version of the Hippocratic oath--nurses are supposed to vow to "pass their lives in purity..." That doesn't do a lot for the nursing's image, does it.

Nightingale has been associated with this selfless, holier than thou attitude, and it really isn't true about her. She was a Victorian woman, and was constrained by her era. Still, for a society where women could not vote, hold property, and basically were their husband's property, she had remarkable influence. Another little known fact about her--one of her causes was to improve the rights of prostitutes, who had none.

Oh, and she didn't die of syphillus, as the rumor goes. Doctors now believe that she died of brucellosis, which she picked up in the Crimea, and which was probably responsible for being an invalid during the last 50 years of her life.

CliveUK · Apr 14, 2003

I couldn't agree more - people are far too keen to ditch poor old Flo as a symbol of nurses/nursing. I think the problem is that you hear talk of "new" and "modern" nursing, when in fact nothing has changed about humans or their needs since the Crimean War.

2banurse · Apr 14, 2003

Quote by llg...

I think the people who "don't support Florence" know very little about her. The more I have learned about her and her work, the more I have come to respect her.

I totally agree llg. She did make me look at nursing in a whole different way.

Quote by Gwenith....

But then I don't really want to see a movie about Florence because it would probably end up as a cross between "the English Patient" and "Love Story" with a bit of "Farewell to Arms" thrown in.

Actually Gwenith, there was a movie about Florence Nightingale with Jacyln Smith a number of years ago. Although I have to agree with it being slightly commercialized, I did find it interesting to watch.

Kris