Florence Nightingale was a famous
nurse, better known throughout the world as 'The Lady with the Lamp'.
She laid
the foundation of modern and scientific nursing system by her
dedication and
love for nursing.
Florence Nightingale was
born in
Florence (ltaly) in 1820. Florence received the best of education and
was
trained to be a gentle woman. She belonged to a wealthy family with a
high
standing in society. But her ambition from young age was to become a
nurse, as
she loved to look after the sick people. So she rejected the comforts
and
luxuries of homely life and dedicated herself to the service of the
sick. She
joined a school for nurses in Germany and underwent training for four
months.
She got the practical training of nursing in 'Gentle Women During
illness', a
nursing home in London.
In
1854, the Cremean War broke out between Russia and Turkey. England
provided
help to Turkish soldiers, fighting in Cremea. Florence Nightingale was
asked
for help. She and few other nurses toiled to take care of hundreds of
wounded
soldiers.
Florence
was the lady-in-chief and looked after everything there. She put
everything in
order and was strict disciplinarian. Late at night while visiting
patients, she
used to hold a lamp in her hand. She would stop to say cheering words
to
patients and thus came to be known as 'The Lady with the Lamp'.
She
founded a nursing school at St. Thomas's Hospital at London and
encouraged
women to join the nursing profession. She did reforms in the British
hospitals
and made the work of nursing honorable for all time. She died in London
at the
age of 90 years.