English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing
1820 CE
to 1910 CE
Florence Nightingale, OM, RRC, DStJ (May 12, 1820 – August 13, 1910) is an English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing.
Nightingale comes to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organizes care for wounded soldiers.
She gives nursing a favorable reputation and becomes an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.
Recent commentators have asserted Nightingale's Crimean War achievements were exaggerated by media at the time, but critics agree on the importance of her later work in professionalising nursing roles for women.
In 1860, Nightingale lays the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas' Hospital in London.
It is the first secular nursing school in the world, and is now part of King's College London
In recognition of her pioneering work in nursing, the Nightingale Pledge taken by new nurses, and the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve, are named in her honor, and the annual International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on her birthday.
Her social reforms include improving healthcare for all sections of British society, advocating better hunger relief in India, helping to abolish prostitution laws that were harsh for women, and expanding the acceptable forms of female participation in the workforce.
Nightingale is a prodigious and versatile writer.
In her lifetime, much of her published work is concerned with spreading medical knowledge.
Some of her tracts are written in simple English so that they can easily be understood by those with poor literary skills.
She is also a pioneer in the use of infographics, effectively using graphical presentations of statistical data.
Much of her writing, including her extensive work on religion and mysticism, has only been published posthumously.
