The Life of Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale is the founder of modern nursing. Her remarkable life is one of the many reasons that nursing is such an advanced field. Not only did she make advances in nursing, she also made improvements in hospitals. From her humble beginnings, to her career, and to advocacy for nurses and women’s rights Florence Nightingale has left a lasting impact on the world. Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy on May 12, 1820 to Frances and William Nightingale (“Florence” Networks). She had an older sister named Parthenope, who was born in Naples. Florence grew up as a wealthy young girl splitting time between two homes. During the summer months the Nightingales lived in Lea Hurst in Derbyshire, …show more content…
Florence not only took care of her patients, she also took care of her patients families. She made sure that everyone was well taken care of (Bloy). Some of the things Nightingale did to improve the quality of life for her patients and their families was to implement the creation of a kitchen. These kitchens were set up to meet specific dietary needs of patients. She also set of a laundry system that provided clean sheets for patients’ beds, this improved sanitary conditions even more throughout the hospital. For the families of the patients she set up classrooms and libraries so that they could read during their stay. In excess of all of this she often worked twenty-four hour shifts. She would make rounds at night to check on her patients. During these night visits she would move from bed to bed carrying a lamp. She would get them anything that they needed and make sure they were well taken care of. It was because of these long night shifts and her caring demeanor that she earned the famous nickname of “Lady of the Lamp” from the patients and their families …show more content…
The chronic Crimean Fever caused her to have exceptionally high fevers, depression, weight loss, and extreme body aches (Seleanders). However, this illness did not stop Nightingale from continuing to improve sanitary and working conditions in hospitals throughout the world. During the American Civil War Nightingale frequently communicated with nurses working in field hospitals. She gave advice about the proper sanitation methods to prevent the spread of disease. She relayed her methods that she invented during the Crimean War to American nurses like Clara Barton. It was because of Nightingale’s sanitation methods that the hospital infection rate in Union hospitals was low. It was also because of Nightingale that nursing took off shorty before the war in America. It was her methods that were used to train American nurses (Burns). Her impact on nursing has been global and long