The extract from General Sir John Burgoyne to Lord Raglan could be considered relatively limited in terms of identifying the impact Florence Nightingale had on medical care in Scutari.
The source provides insight on the influence of Nightingale’s compassionate attitude. There is a brief comment on the mental state of those wounded in Scutari, who were noticeably appearing in a way that indicated “amendment rather than despondence”. This suggests that Nightingale’s presence and changes to the management greatly improved the wellbeing of the soldiers and the medical care they received. This is true, as while the war waged, soldiers in Scutari wrote ballads about Nightingale, one believing her to be ‘One of Heaven’s best gifts’, implying that
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In the letter, General Burgoyne does not refer to the dire and disgusting conditions Scutari was in prior to Nightingale’s arrival. Before her presence, there was no stock of necessities in the Scutari, with Nightingale needing to purchase three hundred scrubbing brushes in order to clear, what she described as, an ‘inch of liquid filth’ that covered the floors. Additionally, Nightingale increased the distance between patient beds, reducing the spread of infectious diseases, implemented a healthy diet, and cleaned and dressed wounds regularly. This significantly improved medical care in Scutari, as the vast majority of soldiers who died, died as a result of poor hygiene and sanitation. Furthermore, the source is limited by the fact that it was written in late March 1855 - meaning the letter was written before the enormous affects of the Sanitary Commission were to be seen. The commission employed two hundred Turkish workers to change flea-ridden floors, as well as drain the cesspool beneath the hospital and arguably had the largest impact in reducing the death toll in Scutari. Thus, the source is relatively incomplete and limited regarding the actual previous medical care and hence the impact Nightingale had on supposedly improving it. During the course of the war, 80 per cent of the death rates were a result of men dying from disease or wounds, majority of which, such as cholera, were preventable with improved hygiene and cleaner water. By February 1855, the mortality rate had fallen from 60 per cent to 42.7 per cent. This dramatically reduced further to 2.2 per cent after a fresh water supply was introduced. The source has no recollection of this, limiting it in the sense that there is no mention of the scale of which medical care was problematic in
In her old age she received many honours, including the Order of Merit (1907), becoming the first woman to receive it. Florence Nightingale is often portrayed as a romantic figure walking the wards of Scutari. In fact she was very determined and faced opposition from her own family and male prejudice. Her farsighted reforms have influenced the nature of modern health care and her writings continue to be a resource for nurses, health managers and planners. In my opinion Florence Nightingale played a very important role in the improvement of the training of nurses in the 19th Century.
After graduating, Florence received a job in a Middlesex hospital for ailing governesses (Nash 1925). Her work ethic was very impressing that after a short time, Nightingale was moved to superintendent of the hospital. The job proved to be just as challenging as it sounded. The outbreak of disease and unsanitary conditions had Nightingale in frenzy. It would be up to her to improve unsanitary conditions and decrease the fast spread of disease.
To expand, in 1854, Nightingale and a team of 38 nurses went to Crimea to help wounded soldiers.
Florence Nightingale cured the ill. She spent every walking minute caring for the injured soldiers. In the evenings, she moved through the dark hallways carrying a lamp while making her rounds, tending to patient after patient. The soldiers who were not only moved but comforted by her endless supply of compassion, gave her the nickname “the Lady with the Lamp”. Others called her “the Angel of Crimea”. Her hard work reduced the hospitals death rate by two-tirds. Nothing could have prepared Nightingale and her nurses for what they saw when they arrived at the British base hospital in Constantinople (Florence
When one thinks of the evolution of nursing, several noteworthy women come to mind, yet one stands out, Florence Nightingale. In Notes on Nursing, Nightingale says “…put the patient in the best conditions for nature to act upon him.” (1859, p.75) She established standards that reformed the industry. For example; her practices of sanitation and aseptic methods led to a decrease in hospital mortality rates. By keeping records of care given, techniques used and the outcomes; by utilizing these records, she implemented documentation and evidence-based practice. She started the ball rolling on the transition of nursing from a belittled trade to the profession it is now proclaimed to be. Nightingale, in conjunction with other
During the mid to late 18th century, nursing had transformed into a respectable and accepting career. With the significant advances brought on by Florence Nightingale, nurses were now viewed as suitable care takers. This was especially true during the Civil War, where many women were sent out to take care of the soldiers. “Lessons from the Crimean War and Florence Nightingale had made it clear to Americans that nurses (even if they were untrained) were needed in times of war to care for wounded and ill soldiers (Judd/Sitzman, 97).” In this essay, I will compare the images, training, education, and work performed by American nurses in the Civil War between Louisa May Alcott’s Civil War Hospital Sketches to that of the History of American Nurses.
The war office avoided hiring more after their poor reputation, nevertheless Nightingale received a letter in late 1854. Her success in doing so was due to her concern with the sanitation of the hospital. When Nightingale arrived in Crimea on the British Base, Scutari, she was met with filthy floors, bugs, and rats under the beds (History.com, 2009). This is when Florence took action and began to sanitize and clean the hospital as best she could.
In 1849 Florence went abroad to study the European hospital system. In 1853 she became the superintendent for the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen in London. In 1854 Florence raised the economic and productive aspect of women's status by volunteering to run all the nursing duties during the Crimean War. With her efforts the mortality rates of the sick and wounded soldiers was reduced. While being a nurse was her profession and what she was known for, she used statistics to achieve...
She served as a nurse and tended to wounded soldiers. She became known as “The Lady with the Lamp” after she made her nightly rounds by lamplight. On October 21, 1854 she and her staff of 38 volunteer women nurses, that she trained, were sent to the Ottoman Empire. They traveled 295 miles by sea to where the British camp was based. They arrived in November 1854 and were appalled when they found the poor care given to the injured soldiers. The current medical staff was overworked, there was a shortage of medications, hygiene was being neglected and fatal infections were common. The men were kept in rooms without blankets or enough food. They were unwashed and still wore their dirty uniforms. The medical staff on hand objected to her views and felt her comments were belittling them as professionals. Both the military officers in charge and the doctors made her feel unwelcome. During her first winter in Scutari, 4077 soldiers died. Ten times more soldiers perished from illnesses such as typhus, typhoid, cholera and dysentery than from actual battle wounds. She sent back a plea for help from the British. The government had a hospital commissioned and designed in England and shipped over to Scutari. This resulted in the death rate being reduced from 42% to 2%, either by making improvements in hygiene herself, or by requesting the Sanitary Commission. Six months after she arrived at the camp, the British government
Before the modernization and reform of their profession in the mid-1800s, nurses were believed to perform “women’s work”, which implied menial duties, unskilled service, and an overall lack of skill (Garey, "Sentimental women need not apply"). This mentality was substantiated by the “untrained attendants, [including] past patients, vagrants, and prostitutes,” that performed a variety of nursing tasks (Garey). Florence Nightingale’s nursing experiences during the Crimean War, her subsequent publication of Notes on Nursing, and her work to build up professionalism within the field transformed the way that the world and society viewed nursing. She introduced invigorating ideas of patient care, nursing roles and responsibilities, and was a strong proponent of nursing education. Nightingale’s overall work inspired and changed the profession of nursing, laying the foundation for its
Florence Nightingale, named after the city of Florence, was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. She would pursue a career in nursing and later find herself studying data of the soldiers she so cringingly looking after. Born into the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale took the lead role amongst her and her colleges to improve the inhabitable hospitals all across Great Britten; reduce the death count by more than two-thirds. Her love for helping people didn’t go unnoticed and would continue to increase throughout her life. In 1860 she opened up the St. Tomas’ Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses before passing August 13, 1910 in London. Her willingness to care for her patients was never overlooked and wound establishing
Born in 1820 in Florence, Italy Nightingale, had all the privileges to become part of the aristocratic society, but chose to serve the disadvantaged and the poor (Butts & Rich, 2015). Florence Nightingale was reported to be “a strong willed and clear thinking individual who was persistently driven to achieve her goals in life (Stanley & Sherratt, 2010). Unlike many Victorian women, she had found a singleness of purpose and in spite of family and social opposition, sought to promote herself into a career as a social reformer” (Stanley & Sherratt, 2010, p.
It was during this training that Florence Nightingale received a request from Henry Parkes, in Sydney, for a team of trained nurses able to implement Florence’s nursing standards in the Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary. Florence Nightingale decided that Ms. Osburn, as a middle class woman with nursing training, would be the most appropriate choice to undertake this mission and made her Lady Superintendent (Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1974). Ms. Osburn worked for sixteen years at the Sydney Hospital, implementing many reforms to the nursing structure, hygiene, and facilities. She was eventually successful in implementing Nightingales style of nursing in Australia, before retiring in 1884 (Godden, J. and Forsyth, S.,
Florence Nightingale is the headmost person who contributed to the improvement and development of health. However, she still is and inspiration and also as important subject to worldwide individuals. She was born to a rich family where she was brought up in an English high society. From young age Florence Nightingale accommodated the needy and the sickly individuals in the village neighboring her estate, and by the age of 16 she selected nursing as her future career. However, Nightingale, wanted to use her ability, to make a huge significance in this world. Given her determination,
Florence Nightingale was born on May 12,1820 in Italy. She was with a very wealthy family who always went to and had very expensive parties. During Florence’s childhood she was known as Flo! She is still known as Flo when people talk about her today. Florence’s parents names were Francis Nightingale, and William Nightingale. They had two children named Florence and Parthe Nightingale. She was a very smart girl and wanted to read and study all the time when her mother and sister wanted to socialize. Florence and Parthe had always fought with each other. Soon their mother sent them to live with different relatives. When Florence was growing up no one really had dreams of being a nurse but Florence wanted to follow her dreams! When Florence was nineteen her and her sister got introduced to Queen Victoria of Britain! Florence and her sister were taught by a governess for a while then their father decided to teach them because he thought they were not learning anything! Even though Florence did not go to an actual school she was very very smart in all subjects. Her favorite subject was Mathematics. Florence refused to marry anyone she just wanted to follow her dreams of being a nurse. She thought that getting married would interrupt her studies.