Florence Nightingale's Birthday: World's Most Famous Nurse

Nursing has certainly come a long way since the time of Florence Nightingale. We should not forget the courage and perseverance of the Lady with the Lamp who remains the most famous nurse in history. This inspirational figure helped to transform nursing into the highly respected profession it is today.

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As part of our pinning ceremonies in nursing school, we all probably remember reciting the Nightingale Pledge, a modified "Hippocratic Oath" composed in 1893 by Mrs. Lystra E. Gretter and a Committee for the Farrand Training School for Nurses, Detroit, Michigan. The pledge is as follows:

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I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.

Since today is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, I thought it would be a good time to look back at the life of the woman considered to be the founder of modern nursing.

Early Life

Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 in Italy into an affluent, upper-class, well-connected British family. Although her mother, Francis, who came from a family of merchants was interested in social-climbing, Florence, the younger of two daughters, was reportedly awkward in social situations. Florence's father, William Edward Nightingale, was a wealthy landowner and provided Florence with a classical education, including studies in mathematics, German, Italian, and French.

Florence, who was strong-willed, often butted heads with her overly controlling mother. Instead of socializing with the upper-class females in her mother's circle, Florence was always interested in ministering to the ill and poor people in the village which bordered her family's estate. It was clear to Florence when she was 16 that nursing was her calling. At that time, nursing was seen as menial and lowly labor - certainly not an honorable profession. Her upper-class parents wanted her to marry someone respectable.

Education

At age 24, Florence defied her parents' wishes and left England to enroll as a nursing student at the Lutheran Hospital of Pastor Fliedner in Kaiserwerth, Düsseldorf Germany. Upon her return to England in the early 1850's, she took a job at a London Hospital. After her impressive work there, she was promoted to superintendent after only a year.

Florence Nightingale became known as a reformer and advocator for public health due to her work at greatly improving sanitary conditions after an outbreak of cholera.

Crimean War - "Lady with the Lamp"

Florence became a living legend as the "Lady with the Lamp". Her work during the Crimean War from 1854 until 1856 was well-known as she led nurses who cared for thousands of soldiers. She and her team of nurses improved the unsanitary conditions at a British base hospital, reducing the death count by two-thirds, which helped save the British army from medical disaster. She was also a visionary health reformer, a brilliant campaigner, the most influential woman in Victorian Britain and its Empire, second only to Queen Victoria herself. Upon Florence Nightingale's return from the Crimean War, the Queen rewarded her work by presenting her with an engraved brooch that came to be known as the "Nightingale Jewel" and by granting her a prize of $250,000 from the British government.

Achievements

Florence Nightingale's greatest achievement was to make nursing a respectable profession for women. Her writings on hospital planning and organization had a profound effect in England and across the world. She published over 200 books, reports and pamphlets. Florence died at the age of 90, on 13th August 1910. She became one of the most famous and influential women of the 19th century. Her writings continue to be a resource for nurses, health managers and planners to this day.

Nursing has certainly come a long way since the time of Florence Nightingale. We should not forget the courage and perseverance of the Lady with the Lamp who remains the most famous nurse in history. This inspirational figure helped to transform nursing into the highly respected profession it is today.

Happy Birthday, Flo!

More Fun Facts! Watch Florence Nightingale - Mini Biography... 

Trivia questions for you....

  • How did Florence Nightingale get her nickname, "The Lady With the Lamp"?
  • What was her sister's name?
  • What animal did Florence Nightingale carry with her, even when doing hospital rounds?
  • Was Florence Nightingale ever married?
  • What is the name of the nursing school Florence Nightingale opened in 1860?
  • How did Florence Nightingale get her name?
  • What was the cause of death for Florence Nightingale?
  • Where is Florence Nightingale buried?

Related Topics...

 

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I hear you! I hadn't read anything about Florence Nightingale having borderline personality disorder---I heard she suffered from depression and/or manic depression---but I agree that mental illness should be NOTHING to be ashamed of.

You'd think people in our own profession would be less judgmental of us; unfortunately it's the opposite. I've lost jobs due to my bipolar disorder, even before I knew I had it (diagnosed 2012), and eventually it wrecked my career. There is little understanding and even less compassion in our field, and I wish I knew why.

So keep protesting, keep advocating! This site is generally very positive and supportive of nurses with mental illness, but it wasn't always this way. I've been here almost 12 years and can remember when MI was judged quite harshly in a lot of cases. That is not how it is now, and that's because nurses like you have spoken out about their illnesses and how they cope with them. Someday I hope that people with broken brains will come to be treated as compassionately as those with broken arms. :yes:

Oh, no, by BPD, I meant bipolar disorder-guess that's what happens when u make ur own abbreviations :)

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

A lot of people make that same mistake. The abbreviations can be confusing; some folks in the bipolar community use BP, others use BD. No worries. =)

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Yep - a psychiatrist acquaintance told me about Flo. He said they had used her as a case study in his residency. He was so amazed about how much Flo was able to accomplish despite the fact that she was agoraphobic .... !!! yep, turns out she basically didn't leave her house anymore after she returned from the Crimea.

He showed me all the references that attested to her mental issues & the fact that modern medicos figured that the agoraphobia was most likely a result of BPD+PTSD from her war experiences. He said it probably would have been even more severe due to the fact that she (and all Victorian ladies of her social class) were very sheltered.

World leaders & military honchos came to her house to meet with her for 40+ years. During that time, she single-handedly created the guiding principles of British public health policy and infrastructure. At the time, her behavior was not considered too extraordinary because staying out of the public eye was considered "ladylike" and "modest"... she was a role model for the Victorian ideal. Amazing woman. Just imagine what she could have done if she was mentally healthy.

BPD = borderline personality disorder

BAD = bipolar affective disorder

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

It's BAD all right!

As I understand it, she was more of a mathematician/statistician.

Her work using statistics was groundbreaking for the (statistics) field.

She was no saintly angel; kind and benevolent to all. Some reports say she was not the nicest person to be around.

She is forever remembered in public consciousness as a "self-sacrificing angel," but that is not her main legacy or contribution. Her scientific contribution is to this day continually usurped in favor of the more gender-appropriate "apparition of the feminine divine." It wasn't exactly socially accepted to be a woman and a hard-science geek in her day. And the myth continues.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
HouTx said:
Yep - a psychiatrist acquaintance told me about Flo. He said they had used her as a case study in his residency. He was so amazed about how much Flo was able to accomplish despite the fact that she was agoraphobic .... ! yep, turns out she basically didn't leave her house anymore after she returned from the Crimea.

Acutally, some scholars have questioned that diagnosis of agoraphobia -- suggesting that used her "delicate health" to manipulate people and control her schedule. Some people who have studied her appointment schedules, correspondence, etc. claim that she was always available to receive visitors when the visitor was someone she liked -- but that she frequently claimed that she was not feeling well when the visitor was someone she didn't like.

If that's true (and I am not 100% sure that it is -- just passing on what a former faculty member and big Nightengale fan told me), that suggests that her claims of having symptoms of various illnesses cannot be taken at face value. Given the common cultural phenomenon of women staying at home during that time period ... and the lack of understanding of mental conditions at the time ... no one will ever know for sure what was up with her. Sick? or Shrewd politician and skilled manipulator? It might be a little of both.

Specializes in NICU.

LOL. at first glance, I though BPD was Bronchopulmonay Dysplasia. Also abbreviated BPD. We refer to our "BPD" kids as "BPD-ers." Funny how differnt abbreviations can mean different things, from one branch of nursing to another.

TeenyTinyBabyRN said:
LOL. Funny how differnt abbreviations can mean different things, from one branch of nursing to another.

Yeah, that's why I wish people wouldn't use them (and assume everyone else knows what they mean).

Whatever mental problems she had, (in the bio I read, they suggested PTSD), she was an independently wealthy member of the upper class in a time and place where class and rank meant everything. She had power and knew how to cultivate and wield it.

With her power and position, she could get away with more than other people.

RNperdiem said:
Whatever mental problems she had, (in the bio I read, they suggested PTSD), she was an independently wealthy member of the upper class in a time and place where class and rank meant everything. She had power and knew how to cultivate and wield it.

With her power and position, she could get away with more than other people.

Of course that's true; it's also true that mental illness doesn't discriminate based on class. The rich have better resources, but the underlying condition still sucks.