Introduction
- Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy.
- Her parents were visiting Florence, in Italy.
- She was named after the city.
- Florence’s parents were very rich.
- Florence had an older sister named Parthenope.
Florence Nightingale Childhood
- Florence’s childhood was happy.
- Like many girls of the time, Florence did not go to school.
- But she was a good student.
- Her father taught her foreign languages, history and math.
- Florence wanted to nurse the sick.
- At the time, nurses were often uneducated old women.
- Her parents would not let her be a nurse.
- But as she grew older, Florence’s parents wanted her to marry a rich young man and settle down as girls of her age were expected to do.
Nursing
- She was sure that she wanted to be a nurse and help people.
- In the beginning, Florence read books and reports about health and hospitals.
- She learnt and became an expert to treat the sick and make them better.
- When she was 26, Florence went to Germany with some friends to visit a nursing school in Kaiserswerth.
- To say, this was where she wanted to study.
- In 1851, Florence’s parents let her go to Kaiserswerth.
- Then she went to Paris, France, to work as a nurse.
- Later, she worked at a hospital for sick women in London.
Crimean War
- In 1854, Nightingale heard about the bad conditions for soldiers injured in the Crimean War between Britain and Russia.
- Most of the injured soldiers were sent to Scutari.
- Nightingale gathered together supplies and a group of nurses to help.
- So, they traveled to Scutari Hospital in Turkey.
- Sick people had unhealthy food and there were no beds.
- To say, she made the ward cleaner and the men were happy to have better food.
The lady with the lamp
- They called Nightingale “The lady with the lamp” because she walked around the hospital every night comforting patients.
- When the war ended in 1856, Nightingale was famous.
- Even Queen Victoria wanted to meet her.
- Everyone wanted Nightingale’s advice about hospitals and health.
Later life
- In 1860, she set up the Nightingale School for Nurses in London.
- Nightingale became sick and suffered from Crimean Fever, she was often bedridden over the rest of her life.
- She spent most of her time at home, but people came to ask her for advice about hospitals.
- Nightingale was blind for the last ten years of her life. She was sick for a long time, but she kept working until she lost her sight.
- She died in 1910.
Conclusion
- Today, hospitals have become cleaner and looked after by trained nurses.
- One main reason is because of the hardwork and dedication of Florence Nightingale.
- During her life, nursing had become a respected profession.
- Finally, Her birthday is celebrated as International Nurses Day.
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