I thought it would be fun to share some interesting facts about the founder of “modern nursing”- Florence Nightingale.
I recently completed a CE course on Home Health Care Nursing and the information below is from that course. And yes, Florence was inspirational in starting home healthcare in this country.
Florence had many firsts in nursing but did you know that her family did not want her to be a nurse? At that time (1853) nursing was considered a job for the undesirables in the community, not for a well bred lady like Florence. As a way to discourage Florence, her family sent her away to travel through Europe with family friends.
While in Germany Florence would meet the superintendent of the Kaisersworth School for Nurses, which further pique her curiosity of caring for the sick. Florence remained in Germany where she received 3 months of formal nurse training.
In 1854 Florence Nightingale was recruited by the British Military to help introduce female nurses into military hospitals in Turkey. Doctors were not happy to see female nurses in military hospitals but as the reality of war set in nurses became valuable and welcomed contributors to the sick and dying veterans.
Before this date it was men who did nursing in the military. mmmm…..sure could use more men in nursing now.
In 1860 Florence Nightingale would open her own School of Nursing in Britain. Soon to be nurses would receive one year of training on the wards of St. Thomas Hospital (no sitting in classrooms, it was all hands on training) After training these nurses would be sent all over Europe and to the United States. It wouldn’t be until 1870 that two Schools of Nursing were established here in the USA, one in Philadelphia and one in Boston.
She also had many of her writings published, one titled Notes on Nursing: What it is and What it is Not, which described her observations and concepts of what nursing is and should be in the future. She believed nurses should not be managed by hospitals and doctors but by their own nursing organizations, their own education and their own nursing practices.
Florence Nightingale also was the first to see patients as a whole, what we call Holistic Nursing today, treating not just the symptoms but the environment they lived in, how they felt and what resources they had available and their beliefs systems.
Most importantly she advocated for prevention of illnesses, she wrote that nurses should care for the well too in an effort to prevent illness and stop the spread of communicably diseases.
In summary I would like to say ThANK YOU, to Florence Nightingale for leading the way, for not listening to her family and making nursing one of the most respectful, sought after, recognized profession there is today.
I am very proud to be a NURSE! Happy Nurses Week 2012 to all the wonderful nurses out there. Leave me a comment or share, would love to hear how your nurses week is going.
Tina
P.S. American Association of Holistic Nurses is celbrating Florence Nightingale birthday on Saturday May 12,2012 at noon your time. They are asking every nurse globally to take a moment of silence to celebrate the heart and spirit of nursing, read more about it here==> About the Nightingale moment.
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