Florence Nightingale
		Civilization:	British: England
		Era:	Victorian
	1820 - 1910	Field of Renown:	heroine: Nurse

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale was born into an upper class, well connected family, but horrified her parents by choosing to become a nurse, which at the time, was considered a lower-class occupation. She made this decision out of religious conviction, and refused a proposal of marriage from an eminent politician in order to follow her calling. She attended a school of nursing in Germany, and there learned a great deal about sanitation and proper nursing procedures. She initially worked in a charitable hospital for women but when the Crimean War broke out, offered her services to the British army, and used her political connections to secure resources.

In 1854 Nightingale left with 38 volunteer nurses to work at a military hospital in Scutari the Crimean. The conditions there were atrocious and a very high percentage of the men there died of disease rather than battle wounds. It took nearly six month to make any progress in the conditions, but after thoroughly cleaning the facilities, and providing for sanitary sewers, ventilation, and clean supplies, the death rate at the hospital dropped dramatically. Nightingale's personal behavior and commitment was also exemplary. She frequently worked twenty hour days, and took charge of every aspect of the hospital where the comfort of the soldiers could be improved. When she returned to Britain her reputation preceded her, and she received a hero's welcome.

Florence Nightingale was now the most trusted person in England to dictate changes to medical systems and used her influence to help draft new regulations and procedures, not only for military hospitals, but for many state-sponsored hospitals for the poor as well. She founded a medical college for nurses and wrote books and pamphlets on nursing. She continued to work as a nurse and a nursing advocate until she became incapacitated at the age of 76. She died in 1910.

	Image Links
Florence Nightingale at Scutari in Historical Reader—Primary	Tell me what you want to say, and I will say it.' in Red Book of Heroes	Roger could hardly believe his eyes. in Red Book of Heroes
Miss Florence Nightingale  in Reign of Queen Victoria