Florence Nightingale.
Florence Nightingale had everything as a child in the nineteenth century. Her parents were extremely wealthy. They had two large homes. Their winter house had a ballroom; their summer house had fifteen bedrooms. Florence spent all her childhood days in a well-to-do atmosphere. She had an excellent mind too. Her father taught her Greek, Latin, German, French, Italian, history and philosophy. He also taught her to read the Bible from the Greek text. But her mother expected her to marry a rich boy and to live a luxurious life.
As she grew older, she became more and more uneasy about her lifestyle. In the 1840’s, England went through an economic depression. Most of the common people were very poor. Many actually starved for food. Seeing this, she couldn't enjoy all she had. She felt her life was empty until she had a special experience when she was sixteen. Alone in her room one day, she felt that God was telling her to serve Him in a special way. After that, she often visited hospitals taking medicine, food, and clothes when she was twenty- four. She was sure of what God wanted her to do – work in hospitals among the sick. Her family did not agree to her decision. Her mother was ashamed that she wanted to do something so “degrading.” Nightingale worked hard to educate herself in the art and science of nursing, in spite of opposition from her family and the restrictive societal code for affluent young English women.
Florence Nightingale's most famous contribution came during the Crimean War, which became her central focus when reports began to filter back to Britain about the horrific conditions of the wounded. In 1844, hospitals were dark, poorly run, and disgusting. Many patients came in filthy and stayed that way. People with all kinds of different diseases were crammed into the same room.
The smell which came from them was so bad. Doctors covered their faces with handkerchiefs to avoid the smell. When she visited a hospital in Germany, there she saw a nurse taking much care for the sick, seeing the difference that good nursing could make, Florence decided to pursue her dream course. She heard about a well – run hospital in Paris, operated by nuns, and she went there to learn all she could. She visited many other hospitals. Her years of study and research made her an expert in nursing care.
When she was thirty three, she was put in charge of a London charity hospital. It was exhausting work from dawn until nightfall, but she loved it. Then she left in 1854 to direct nurses battling an outbreak of cholera (an infectious intestinal disease that is usually fatal) But Florence and some nurses reached the hospital, and worked like slaves cleaning the hospital. They decided to accept her help. She spent twenty hours a day doing everything she could to ease the soldier’s pain. After her duty hours, she personally visited the wards to see if there was anything the men needed.
At the end of the war, she went back to England. She was still not willing to rest, however. Because she had become a national hero. When Queen Victoria invited her for a visit and listened to her ideas. Florence suggested that the government should set up a commission to study what changes should be made. She started a school for nurses in London. She went on to write books on nursing and hospitals. When the Civil War broke out in the United States, she helped organize hospitals for the sick.
Florence Nightingale lived for more than ninety years . She died on August 13th 1910. By the time she died, she had won respect for nurses and had revolutionized the way hospitals run in England and throughout the world. She was a ‘ministering angel’ without any exaggeration in hospitals, and as her slender form glides quietly along each corridor, every poor fellow's face softens with gratitude at the sight of her.
When all the medical officers have retired for the night and silence and darkness have settled down upon those miles of prostrate sick, she may be observed alone, with a little lamp in her hand, making her solitary rounds. Her life was a role model to the millions. She served the patients with much love and care. She ignored her luxurious life and was stubborn in her decision to help the patients and needy people.
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