Who was Florence Nightingale, and how has she helped people?
Florence nightingale was born in 1820, in florence, italy. She is known for her contributions to sanitary conditions in military hospitals on the field, and for her work as a nurse in the Crimean war. As an adult, she became interested in helping in hospitals, an idea which her parents strongly opposed. at the time, nurses were little more than prostitutes. When she found out about the large war that was going on, she decided that they needed her help. She gathered 38 nurses to help her. When she arrived in crimea, she found it a huge, filthy place where infection was very common. To quote her on the state of the hospital,
"There were no vessels for water or utensils of any kind; no soap, towels, or clothes, no hospital clothes; the men lying in their uniforms, stiff with gore and covered with filth to a degree and of a kind no one could write about; their persons covered with vermin . . .
We have not seen a drop of milk, and the bread is extremely sour. The butter is most filthy; it is Irish butter in a state of decomposition; and the meat is more like moist leather than food. Potatoes we are waiting for, until they arrive from France . . ." - Florence Nightingale (www.victorianweb.org)
Upon her arrival, many of the doctors already working there didn't like her and her nurses, because they didn't like the idea of a female interfering with their work. Despite all this,by the end of 1854 , Nightingale had the hospital in much better condition. Some of the soldiers started calling her "The lady of the lamp" because she was the only nurse allowed in the wards after 8 P.M
Florence Nightingale died at the age of 90, on august 13, 1910
Florence Nightingale has made the medical world a better , more sanitary place. She has many schools, foundations, and hospitals named in her honor.
Citations (MLA style)
Bloy, Marji. "Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)." The Victorian Web literature,history, and culture in the time of victoria . N.p., 16/05/2010. Web. 16 Nov 2011.
O'connor, JJ, and EF Robertson. "Florence Nightingale." . N.p., 10/2003. Web. 16 Nov 2011.
Ford, Maryka. "Florence Nightingale-a biography." R.E.S.C.I.N.D. N.p., 2000. Web. 16 Nov 2011.
