Florence against men

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I have a quote here from Luther Christman PhD,RN,FAAN that Florence Nightingale did everything she could to eliminate men from nursing. I know she is such an iconic hero to so many people but this is very interesting. I am doing a research paper on Chritman so if anyone has anything on this I would like to hear it.

Thanx

The nightengale pledge is a ceremony for women..The candle, the wording, it has a femanine tone..No men are allowed!

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Specializes in Pediatric Intensive Care, Urgent Care.

you all are all so funny. tippy toeing around her image as if you all have her on a pedestal. Look...if true...it is what it is!! If she was a racist...she was a racist...it doesn't matter what time she lived in...racism was wrong then as it is now. If she didn't like men in nursing then so what...who cares! Just cause she didnt like men in nursing doesn't mean she didnt like men. she just didnt want them intruding in her territory. She was a remarkable womam for all that she accomplished that was positive...the rest made her human. I don't put her on a pedestal. Dr. MLK jr was a remarkable man...but it is well known that he had a lover other than his wife...and he was a minister. Does that take away from what he accomplished in the civil rights movement? Hell NO! Look people, people can accomplish great things...but don't try to make them fit in your nice box of a hero image that doesn't have any room for their shortcomings as well:nono: . It sucks all the humanity out of them.

jc;)

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Specializes in med/surg.

adrienure:

So it is true? I was told by a Phd that Flo died of syphilis. She believed in total patient care. Hmmmmm?

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Dr. MLK jr was a remarkable man...but it is well known that he had a lover other than his wife...and he was a minister. jc;)

Yes..I mean NO, he shouln't have had a lover, but we can forgive him for that. But being a minister...now that's unforgivable.

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There was a divorce case in the early 80"s where a woman who was a stay-at-home mom,won a huge settlement by listing all the jobs she performed(child-care, housecleaning, cooking,etc.). Se started a revolution in divorce settlements.

File under- Too cherrished to work!

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Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.

This has strayed way too far from the original intent of the thread, and I'm more than a little disturbed by the tone it's taken.

Would a moderator please put this thread out of our misery?

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adrienure:

So it is true? I was told by a Phd that Flo died of syphilis. She believed in total patient care. Hmmmmm?

Whether or not she died of syphilis, I don't know. Many people died of syphilis back then, and many people had it and spread it. Nobody understood what it was, how to control it or how it was spread . People hadn't discovered bacteria yet, much less how to kill it. Sad thing is that apparently she spent the latter period of her life as a semi-invalid be cause of it.

Another thing about Flo that was amazing is that she was one of the world's first statisticians. She actually proved that what her nurses were doing worked, this is especially notable because medicine at the time involved a tremendous amount of hocus pocus and superstition. Been bled lately anyone?

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Perhaps the very act of promoting her ideas at the time was seen as man hating. Medicine at the time was very male centric. And that's where the idea that she hated men came from.

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).
Dr. MLK jr was a remarkable man...but it is well known that he had a lover other than his wife...and he was a minister. jc;)

Yes..I mean NO, he shouln't have had a lover, but being a minister...now that's unforgivable.

Actually, under his belief system, it was forgiveable. Wrong, but forgiveable.

I thought about Dr. King when reading this thread, too. Also Thomas Jefferson--a huge figure in the establishment of human rights, but also a slave owner.

To me, the reality that our heroes (and heroines) had human foibles suggests that we flawed humans can also aspire to at least a degree of heroism.

Plus, it would be a bit sad if our sensibilities hadn't evolved since Flo's day. Today, people debate whether women ought to be allowed to be combat soldiers. (I have mixed feelings.) Perhaps, in a hundred and fifty years, our progeny will shake their heads in wonder that we thought anyone should be a combat soldier. Well, maybe longer than that...

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I don't get it. If Florence was black or a male would her works have been greater or less? Does a rose by any other name not smell just as sweet? Why do so many have a problem with the fact that she was a wealthy white female..for some reason this makes her not worthy of the respect for her acts?

By the way Napoleon died of syphyllis also.

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Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.

Actually, Napoleon died from gastric CA.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=61089

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