Florence Nightingale

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Florence Nightingale was a legend in her lifetime and was one of the greatest pioneer's in nursing. She lived ninety years and accomplished many great things for the field of nursing. Her descriptions of nursing, health, environment, and humankind are remarkable and still true to this day. Nightingale reformed nursing and changed the way nursing was viewed. Some of the issues during Nightingale's time, the 1800's, we still face today. Nightingale not only impacted nursing in the 1800's, but also still has an effect on nursing today. We do not need a new role model and icon for nursing because Nightingale changed the nursing profession for the better and that should never be forgotten.

Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy; thereby being named after the city where she was born. Her family was from England, and lived during the Victorian era. While touring Europe on their two-year long honeymoon, Nightingale was born. Her parents William Edward Nightingale and Frances Smith Nightingale were a very wealthy couple. Nightingale had a sister named Parthenope who was about a year older (Davis, 1999).

William Nightingale was well educated, at Cambridge University in England and he taught his daughters at home. William Nightingale taught his daughters to speak Italian, Latin, and, Greek. He also taught them history, philosophy, and math; math was one of Florence's favorite subjects to study (Audian, 1999). Florence's father gave her the education equivalent to an upper class boy during her era. Parthenope rejected her education and joined her mother in domestic activities, w...

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...ver be forgotten.

In conclusion, God's calling Nightingale to his work was a true gift to the nursing profession. The way Nightingale was raised helped her accomplish the immense things she did for the nursing profession. She described nursing, environment, humankind, and health. Nightingale fixed many problems in the nursing profession, one being the need for nursing education. She believed in education that dealt with bookwork and clinical experience in the hospital. She also improved sanitization in hospitals from her practice in the Crimean War. Nightingale has made many contributions to the nursing profession that still exist today.

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