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Florence Nightingale
Origin: Florence, Italy
(12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910)
Heroic Values: Achievement, Caring, Faith, Perseverance, Selflessness, Tolerance, Vision, Wisdom
Background
Florence Nightingale was born into a very wealthy English family while they on vacation in Florence. She was named for her birthplace as was her sister.Nightingale felt a divine calling to do God's work. She was well educated and began investigating the health of the poor. Despite family and social pressures to do otherwise, she entered nursing in London.
As the Crimean War unfolded, stories of horrible injuries and illnesses made their way back to England and Nightingale became concerned. She was sent to Turkey by the government with a team of 38 nurses. What they found was described by Nightingale as follows.
"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 . . . "
The group set about cleaning up conditions and Nightingale began taking care of the soldiers' money and mail, sending them home to their families. Her efforts at caring for the soldiers earned her the nickname, "The Lady-in-Chief". She was also known as The Lady of the Lamp because of her nightly patrols of the hospitals. Her gift for statistics helped her understand the core problems afflicting the hospitals and she applied the lessons from all of her observations.
Nightingale returned home as a hero. She used the knowledge gained in the Crimea to improve hospital conditions throughout Britain, and even India. She became the pioneer of modern nursing; working to improve life for the poor.
Sources
Wikipedia
The online encyclopedia
The Victorian Web
Research and Education
Florence Nightingale Museum
Background information