"The nightingale sings her songs of hope all night long"
This is Florence Nightingale's Story.......
"So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself. "
I was born the 12th of May, 1820, in the city of Florence, Italy. I had no children of my own but became perhaps the most famous woman of all time and give birth to the profession of nursing as we know it today.
In response to a call from God to nurse the sick poor I turned my back on love, wealth, society and comfort to single hardly champion a new direction for women of the world and health of all its citizens. This was not to be an easy task.
I was most often alone and misunderstood by my mother and sister and those around me. I grew up in a world of golf courses and servants and grandeur, royalty, operas and luxury.
My Home
I taught myself the art of nursing and the knowledge of hospitals, in an age where the smell of a hospital would induce nausea and nurses were typically whores and drunks.
My mother and sister fainted and were thrown into hysteria by my ambitions ... but I continued on, becoming the one and only expert on the subject of nursing and hospitals in all of Europe.
My sister and I
I loved mathematics, history, and philosophy, and spoke Greek, French, Italian, Latin, and German.
In 1851 I rejected a marriage proposal of the politician and poet Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, against my mother's wishes. I just knew marrying him would interfere in my calling to nursing.
When in Rome in 1847, I was recovering from a mental breakdown precipitated by a continuing crisis of my relationship with Milnes, I met Sidney Herbert, a brilliant politician who was the Secretary at War (1845-46), a position he held again (1852-1854) during the Crimean War. Herbert was instrumental in facilitating my pioneering work in Crimea and in the field of nursing.
Some Historians have said I suffered from bipolar or chronic fatique syndrome, and indeed I had to retreave to my bed from exhaustion several times throughout my life.
However in the end, I was able to bring health and comfort to the sick of the world as had never been seen nor conceived of before. And to the idle and disrespected women of my time I brought forth a profession with respect.
I'm called "The Lady of The Lamp" after the Grecian lamp I always carried in my night-time visits to the injured soldiers, maintaining meticulous medical records for the hospital, and writing my personal letters to the family of every soldier who died in the hospital.
Lo! in that hour of misery
a lady with a lamp I see
pass through the glimmering gloom,
and flit from room to room.
I led the first trained nurses, into the Crimean war, and afterward, British society awarded me with enough funding to found a nursing school.
Despite the glorious connotations, nursing required perpetual work and care. Nurses cooked meals for patients, cleaned, and were on call day and night. The pay, a shilling per day, was fairly good for my time, and the women earning it were well respected. Often a year as a probationer, a position between maid and nurse, was required of nurses before they received their qualifications.
Typical shifts ran from 7:00 am until 9:00 pm, with two hours of recreational and mealtime breaks in between. Qualified nurses were able to earn up to 50 pounds per year, with free meals and board.
Music
In Scutari,
I and my nurses found wounded soldiers being badly cared for by overworked medical staff in the face of official indifference.
Medicines were in short supply, hygiene was being neglected, and mass infections were common, many of them fatal. There was no equipment to process food for the patients.
"It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very
first requirement in a Hospital that it should do the sick no harm."
I and my nurses began by thoroughly cleaning the hospital and equipment, and reorganizing patient care. Although I was met with resistance from the doctors and officers, my changes vastly improved conditions for the wounded and soon dropped mortality rates by 40 per cent to just two per cent.
I treated 2,000 patients myself, but in doing so I also contracted the Crimean fever. I never completely recovered from this and later in my years I was frequently forced to my bed.
Movies
Television
My pet Owl
Books
Publishing over 200 books, reports and pamphlets, my writings on hospital planning and organization seem to have had a profound effect in England and across the world
I am often considered the first nurse theorist.
I defined nursing over 100 years ago as "the act of utilizing the
environment of the patient to assist him in his recovery". I linked
health with five environmental factors:
***pure or fresh air,
***pure water,
***efficient drainage,
***cleanliness,
***light, especially direct sunlight
I set the stage for further work in the development of
nursing theories. My general concepts about ventilation, cleanliness,
quiet, warmth, and diet remain integral parts of nursing and health
care today.”
I lived a long and wondrous life of 90 years. Through the Victorian age into the age of electricity and biology. From darkness into light. From a tortured secret life of sorrow and almost madness I emerged as a war hero and leader of a society of women that spans the world over to this day. I predicted my own fate......that some day I would be "nothing but a name" ... FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE … but that my works would live on forever.
After my Funeral Service in St. Paul’s Cathedral, a train bore my coffin from London to Romsey Station, and a glass-sided carriage brought my body through the lanes to St Margaret’s East Wellow, my final resting place.
This wasn't my choice, nor the nation’s. I wanted my body to go to medical research; my family didn’t. The Government wanted me buried in a Cathedral; my family didn’t. Eventually, I was buried beside my parents at East Wellow.
Heroes
tribute to Florence Nightingale 's Details
Status:
Married
Here for:
Networking, Friends
Hometown:
Rvsd, CA
Zodiac Sign:
Virgo
Occupation:
nurse/educator
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Never a Christmas morning,
never the year ends...
that someone thinks of someone,
old days, old times, old friends.
From my home to yours...
sending Christmas wishes
for a season blessed with
Peace, love and happiness.
What Cancer Cannot Do!
Cancer is limited...
It cannot cripple
Love
It cannot shatter
Hope
It cannot corrode
Faith
It cannot destory
Peace
It cannot kill
Friendship
It cannot suppress
Memories
It cannot silence
Courage
It cannot invade the
Soul
It cannot steal
Eternal Life
It cannot conquer
The Spirit
"Families are like quilts ~ Lives pieced together ~
Stitched with smiles and tears ~
Colored with memories and bound by love"
I had always dreamed of being a nurse, teacher and a singing, guitar strumming nun....Two out of three isn't bad!! I ended up marrying a man who loves and adores me, no matter how many short comings I may have. I am the mother of 3 very gifted and talented children, and a grandma to a new beautiful grandson. I came from very strong Christian roots, and I have lived all over the United States. I love music, history, genealogy, researching, health science, arts and crafts, decorating, gardening, traveling, anything that has to do with the beach or lake, and laughing at the ironies of life.
Our Precious new grandson! Owen Lee
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, And his name shall be called wonderful counsellor The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. - Isaiah - Chapter 9
" Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring-not even a mouse: The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there." ~ Clement C. Moore
Dearest friend, Wishing you and your family a Wonderful Holiday Season and a New Year of Peace and Happiness!
Sorry you won't be able to spend time with your mom on her birthday, Karen. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve already. Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
"
The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other."
"- Christmas Eve Quotes by Burton Hills
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