| Florence Nightingale made great strides in the | | | | 1856, she headed up nursing in the military hospitals. |
| evolution of nursing. Her actions in the 1800s | | | | One of the things that Nightingale focused on was |
| revolutionized the nursing profession and the care of | | | | improving sanitation within the hospitals. She ordered |
| patients. The Lady with the Lamp became an | | | | additional clothing and bedding and raised funds from |
| important figure within medicine and the changes that | | | | individuals back in England to support her efforts. |
| she made to nursing have saved millions of lives. | | | | Soon, the mortality rate in the hospitals Nightingale |
| Born in 1820, Nightingale received training in languages, | | | | oversaw nursing in dropped from 60 percent to 2 |
| mathematics, and other disciplines as a young girl. In | | | | percent. She also used her background in |
| 1837, she reported that she heard the voice of God | | | | mathematics to conducted statistical studies of |
| telling her that she had a mission in her life. She came | | | | disease and mortality. She became the general |
| to believe that this mission rested in nursing others | | | | superintendent for the Female Nursing Establishment |
| who were sick or injured. | | | | of the Military Hospitals of the Army in 1856. |
| Traveling to Prussia, Nightingale participated in a | | | | When she returned to England, Nightingale continued |
| program designed to teach girls and young women to | | | | the evolution of nursing. She helped found the Royal |
| nurse. When she left the school, she worked in Paris | | | | Commission on the Health of the Army and advised |
| for a brief time for a Sisters of Mary hospital. Even | | | | government officials on sanitation issues in India. She |
| this early, those who came into contact with her | | | | also started a school to train other nurses in London. |
| often respected her opinions, thoughts, and acts | | | | Nightingale suffered from an unknown illness after |
| highly. | | | | she returned from the Crimean War, although she |
| In 1853, Nightingale returned to England where she | | | | continued to write about nursing and sanitation issues. |
| became the superintendent of the Institution for the | | | | By 1901, she was blind. In 1907, she received the |
| Care of Sick Gentlewomen in London. She received | | | | Order of Merit from the King. She died in 1910. |
| no pay for the position. Shortly after taking the | | | | The evolution of nursing has been greatly impacted |
| position, reports began to circulate in England about | | | | by the work of Florence Nightingale. She brought |
| the poor conditions for injured and sick soldiers in the | | | | many new advances to the discipline of nursing and |
| Crimean War. | | | | helped make it a highly respected position for |
| Nightingale gathered thirty-eight other women and | | | | individuals to take. |
| together they left for Scutari, Turkey. From 1854 to | | | | |