Florence Nightingale: Figures from GCSE History

Florence Nightingale Facts

Summary: Born in Florence, Italy, to wealthy parents who owned estates in Derbyshire and Hampshire. Nightingale is often referred to as the founder of modern nursing.
Born: 12th May 1820
Died: 13th August 1910
Books: Notes on Nursing
Biggest achievements:  During her time training nurses during the Crimean War, Nightingale’s work led to significantly reduced death rates. On her return, she established the nursing school at St Thomas’ Hospital, London.

Who was Florence Nightingale?

Florence Nightingale was born on 12th May 1820. Named after the city of Florence, Italy where she was born, Florence was the second daughter of William Edward and Frances Nightingale. Both her mother and father had inherited wealth. The Nightingale family had two estates - Lea Hurst in Derbyshire and Embley Park, Hampshire. 

Florence Nightingale’s education and early life

When Florence was 5 years old the family returned from their European travels. Florence received an academic education from her father. She had an aptitude for mathematics and she could write in multiple languages. Florence’s education was incredibly rare for a female living in the early 19th century. 

When Nightingale was 17 years old, she refused a marriage proposal from a “suitable” gentleman, Richard Monckton Milnes. She never married or had children

Florence Nightingale and Nursing

As a devout Christian, Florence believed pursuing nursing was her calling. At 16 years old, she reported experiencing a ‘call from God’ to reduce human suffering. Nursing allowed her to achieve this calling. Her family were critical of her desire to become a nurse. Nursing was not regarded as a suitable profession for an upper-class lady. Her mother encouraged Florence to marry a respectable suitor who could further raise the family’s social status. Florence refused and after much persuasion, her family allowed her to become a nurse. She enrolled in the Protestant hospital in Kaiserwerth, Germany. At the hospital, she received two weeks of training in 1850 and a further three weeks in 1851. This taught Nightingale basic nursing skills, such as how to observe patients and organisation skills. 
In 1853, Nightingale became the superintendent of the Institution for Sick Gentlewomen (governesses) in Distressed Circumstances, in London. 

Florence Nightingale and Crimea

In October of 1853, the Crimean War broke out. The British Empire was at war against the Russian Empire for control of the Ottoman Empire. By 1854, military hospitals in Crimea had admitted over 18,000 soldiers. Supplies were low and conditions were poor.

At the time, there were no female nurses stationed at hospitals in Crimea. The poor reputation of female nurses had led the war office to avoid hiring more. After the Battle of Alma, England was in an uproar about the neglect of ill and injured soldiers. Due to understaffing the injured soldiers lacked medical attention. They also suffered unsanitary and inhumane conditions.

In late 1854, Nightingale received a letter from Secretary of War Sidney Herbert. The letter asked her to organize a corps of nurses to tend to the sick and fallen soldiers in Crimea. On 4 November 1854, Florence Nightingale arrived in Turkey with a group of 38 nurses from England

Nightingale found conditions in the hospitals filthy, supplies inadequate, staff uncooperative, and overcrowding severe. The conditions meant that soldiers often caught other diseases like typhus, cholera and dysentery. Often more men died from these diseases than from their injuries. Nightingale said it was the “Kingdom of Hell.”

Nightingale bought equipment with funds provided by the London Times. She also enlisted soldiers’ wives to assist with the laundry. Nurses cleaned the wards and provided basic care. Nightingale established standards of care. This ensured that soldiers received basic care such as bathing, clean clothing and dressings, and adequate food.

The soldiers took to calling Nightingale “the Lady with the Lamp.” Others called her “the Angel of Crimea.” Her work reduced the hospital’s death rate by two-thirds.

[Explore More about Florence Nightingale and Crimea]

Florence Nightingale’s books

Nightingale’s most famous publication Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not, provided direction on how to manage the sick. Notes of Nursing has been in continuous publication worldwide since 1859.

Nightingale also wrote Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army. This was an 830-page report analyzing her experience and proposing reforms for other military hospitals. The report led to a total restructuring of the War Office’s administrative department as well as the establishment of a Royal Commission for the Health of the Army in 1857

Impact of Florence Nightingale’s work

In September 1856 she met with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to discuss the need for reform of the British military establishment

Over £45,000 was raised by 1859 through private donations. NIghtingale used most of this money to set up the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. The school opened in 1860 and formalized nursing education. It made nursing a viable and respectable option for women who desired employment outside of the home.

Nightingale developed a number of statistical models — including the Coxcomb chart (also known as a rose diagram). This chart illustrated the causes of death in the Crimean War resulting from infections. Nightingale became the first female member of the Royal Statistical Society and was named an honorary member of the American Statistical Association.

During her lifetime Florence Nightingale became the first woman to receive the Order of Merit. In 1908, at the age of 88, she received the merit of honour.

Florence Nightingale’s Death

Florence Nightingale died in her sleep in London, on 13 August 1910, at the age of 90
On her death in 1910, at Nightingale’s prior request, her family declined the offer of a state funeral and burial in Westminster Abbey. Instead, she was honoured with a memorial service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, in London. Her burial is in the family plot in St. Margaret’s Church, East Wellow, Hampshire.