Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, into a family of wealthy and liberal English landowners. At the age of 17, she refused to do what all the other girls her age did - get married. She announced to her family that she wanted to become a nurse. “It’s like I said I wanted to become a maid in the kitchen,” she wrote in her diary. The family was stunned, but Florence was stubborn. Although she originally planned to marry writer and politician Richard Monckton Milnes, she resolutely rejected him for a higher purpose.
She traveled Europe, visited hospitals and studied. Her devotion to her sisterly vocation came to the fore during the Crimean War (1953-1956), when she worked tirelessly to organize medical service in the British Army.
A huge number of wounded soldiers, extremely difficult hygienic conditions, lack of medicines, food, staff… Suffering of the wounded and diseases (typhus, cholera, dysentery) that killed more people than wounds from battles.
Florence was not discouraged but rolled up her sleeves and in unimaginably difficult war conditions, with unparalleled perseverance, organized a hospital service and raised the level of treatment.
Day and night she visited the wounded and the sick, thus saving countless lives. Mortality in Polish hospitals has fallen thanks to improved hygiene conditions, removed sources of sepsis, intestinal infections and other diseases that were not caused solely by injury.
Together with the other sisters (volunteers), Florence, with a flashlight in her hand and in her heart, saved lives.
Instead of wounded soldiers, she wrote letters to their families, sent their salaries and introduced reading rooms to hospitals. The soldiers loved her because she visited them day and night. "They call me a lady with a flashlight. Why don't they call me the lady with the nightstand? That would be more accurate, "she commented.
Florence did what she could to improve hygienic conditions - she tirelessly washed the wounded and sick, cleaned the hospital, made the beds and tried to improve living conditions. Unfortunately, she did not have enough knowledge about bacilli and did not realize that the lack of adequate sewerage and toilet space as well as dirt from water sources kill the sick.
She was declared a national heroine, and from the award she received for her engagement, she founded the first school for the training of nurses in England. She has dedicated her life to nursing and helping, educating nurses and perfecting the nursing vocation and therefore deservedly bears the epithet of the mother of the nursing vocation. Her birthday is still celebrated today as International Nursing Day. By her example, she encouraged the founding of the Red Cross in 1863 in Geneva.
Queen Victoria awarded her the Order of the Red Cross and was the first woman to receive the Order of Honor (1900, three years before her death).
After the end of the war and upon her return to her homeland, Florence conducted research on the causes of death of 16,500 wounded and realized that hygienic conditions (dirty and inadequate toilets and polluted water sources) caused the most deaths. Broken, with a heavy sense of guilt, she asked the government to publish the results of the investigation and to reform the public health system. Her request was denied, and she retreated into solitude. Broken, full of guilt and regret…
It remains an indisputable fact that Florence Nightingale has indebted humanity. She was committed to her calling, saving lives, carrying hope. It has changed the way hospitals work and care for patients. Her mistake is the result of (un) knowledge that prevailed at the time in matters of hygiene.
Florence has pushed the boundaries…
