Florence Nightingale's contributions to sanitary nursing care and training

Florence Nightingale -- Nursing Theorist

The pioneering healthcare services that Florence Nightingale performed during 1854 Crimean War in Europe is today recognized as the beginning of the organized and sanitary field of nursing. This paper follows the career of Nightingale and recognizes her contribution to the theory of nursing care -- and the development of nursing training -- for the ill and the injured.

The Progression of Florence Nightingale's Career

From Financial Comfort to Rebellion

Born into a wealthy family with parents that expected her to do the things young ladies did in the 19th century -- to occupy herself with "embroidery, playing the piano and painting" -- Nightingale nonetheless resisted those callings and carved out her own career. Instead of falling into the comfort of what rich people did in that era in Europe, Nightingale resisted and rebelled. From the time she could think and dream about what her life should be Nightingale believed that her passion to help others and to do morally uplifting deeds would supersede the pretensions that her wealthy family had planned for her. After telling her parents that she intended to become a nurse, that it was her destiny to become a nurse in order to serve others' health needs, they were "horrified" (Garofalo, et al., 2010) explains (1588). Her parents stubbornly insisted that she live the life of an upper-class Victorian woman but she never gave in to their insistence. After about nine years of debating with her parents about her plans, they "…reluctantly allowed her to leave home for training at the Institution for Deaconesses at Kaiserwerth in Germany" (Garofalo, 1588). This is the evolution that Nightingale went through prior to her nursing education and her actual nursing experience

From Wealth to Filth -- Nightingale's Contribution

There was no theory, per se, developed by Nightingale, but there was a new path to proper, sanitary, organized nursing that was created by Nightingale. So it can be said that she made an enormous contribution to the field of nursing and healthcare. The real purpose of Nightingale's life came clear to her after her training was complete. She worked in healthcare in London for a year until the Crimean War broke out in 1854; at that time she organized a group of 38 volunteer nurses to care for the war wounded at the military hospital in Scutari. The conditions were appallingly unsanitary. There were "ten times more soldiers dying of disease" (typhoid, dysentery and cholera) than from the wounds they had suffered in battle (Fee, et al. 2010). The absence of clean linens, towels, soap, and wash basins, and the swarming bugs and rats on the floors, did not deter Nightingale. She was instead motivated to provide all the sanitary healthcare materials and to work tirelessly day and night to care for the injured soldiers (Fee, 1591). Through her work during the Crimean War -- and the reports that reached America and all over Europe -- she became a role model for future nurses.

Florence Nightingale's Leadership

Conclusion

The life and work of Florence Nightingale has been written about for many years, and students studying nursing become very familiar with Nightingale's legacy of hard work and commitment. This paper reviews the important contributions that Nightingale has made, not just in nursing, but in the healthcare field in its entirety.