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Reflecting Upon Florence Nightingale

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Reflecting Upon Florence Nightingale

Introduction

Florence Nightingale came to be given the title “The Lady with the Lamp” and lived

between 1820-1910. Nightingale was a social reformer, British nurse, and statistician who

founded modern nursing (Cook, 2018). Nightingale’s experiences as a nurse were foundational

in her views about sanitation during the Crimean War. She succeeded in establishing a nursing

school that implicated positively in high-quality medical care. 

Nightingale and Nursing

Florence’s excellent performance after being employed as a nurse made her be promoted

to the superintendent within one year. Unsanitary conditions and cholera outbreak became a

challenge to her as diseases spread rapidly. In her mission to improve sanitation and hygiene

policies, she prominently lowered the death rate in hospitals (Steele, 017). 

Florence and the Crimean War

The outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853 saw many soldiers dying due to poor sanitation

and lack of proper medical care. She was very courageous and vowed to assist the soldiers even

though female nurses were not preferred for hospitals stationed in Crimea. The mortality rate for

soldiers in Crimea increased due to understaffing and inhuman and unsanitary conditions.

Nightingale agreed to her new role of organizing a corps of nurses and assembled 34 nurses. She

took the role even after being warned of the horrid conditions in Crimea. The hospital sat in poor

conditions with contaminated water surrounding it. Wounded soldiers increased with bugs and

rodents scurrying past them. Soap, water, and bandages were scarce (Cindy Ward et al., 2020).

Cholera and typhoid killed most of the soldiers due to poor sanitation making her look for the

right strategies to improve sanitation (Gallagher, 2020). The hospital setting was cleaned, and
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nurses constantly cared for patients. She was very compassionate with her patients hence being

branded ‘the Lady with the Lamp.” She reduced the death toll by more than two-thirds through

improving sanitation and patient improvement programs (McDonald, 2020). Patients requiring a

special diet were provided for under her directives. Laundry services ensured clean linen for

patients. 

Through appreciative inquiry of Nightingale's nursing story, I have been intrigued by the

resounding thoughts and devotion to improve my nursing practice. The feeling that being a nurse

is the most profitable will improve my services to the patients without discrimination. After

reading the story of Nightingale, my objective is to devote my efforts to assisting patients to get

high-quality services. Being a competent nurse, I need to have proper wellness to work

excellently and avoid some health challenges like an outbreak of diseases that became a

challenge to Florence. Florence loved helping patients, and they were appreciative of the services

(Shetty, 2016). I think I possess such phenotypes of working hard to assisting patients to never

die of curable diseases. Being passionate about my work will help me offer better medical care

as Florence her success in helping patients and maintaining sanitation emanated from her passion

for duty. 

Conclusion

To succeed in the nursing career competently, you should be driven by passion and a love

for your work. Florence Nightingale has been passionate, and that’s why she accepted to work in

challenging environments. She transformed contaminated settings to safe patients who could

have languished due to infectious diseases brought about by poor sanitation.

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References

Cindy Ward, D. N. P., Marion Kyner, M. S. N., & Terri Crowder, D. N. P. (2020). Florence

Nightingale: visionary for the role of clinical nurse specialist. Online Journal of Issues in

Nursing, 25(2), 1-9.

Cook, E. T. (2018). The Life of Florence Nightingale: Volume 1. BoD–Books on Demand.

Gallagher, A. (2020). Learning from Florence Nightingale: A slow ethics approach to nursing

during the pandemic. Nursing Inquiry, 27(3).

McDonald, L. (2020). Florence Nightingale: The making of a hospital reformer.

Shetty, A. P. (2016). Florence Nightingale: the Queen of nurses. Archives of Medicine and

Health Sciences, 4(1), 144.

Steele, N. M. (2017). A time to celebrate: Florence Nightingale. Urologic Nursing, 37(2), 57-60.