Florence Nightingale, Founder of Modern Nursing

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), known as “The Lady With the Lamp,” was a British nurse, social reformer and statistician best known as the founder of modern nursing. Her experiences as a nurse during the Crimean War were foundational in her views about sanitation. She established St. Thomas’ Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in 1860. Her efforts to reform healthcare greatly influenced the quality of care in the 19th and 20 centuries.

Read more on History.com click here.

Florence Nightingale: Changing the Field of Nursing – Fast Facts, courtesy of The History Channel
Florence Nightingale was so respected in the field of nursing that she was tapped to consult with the British Army. Learn more about the health reforms that she instituted in this video

Florence Nightingale Quotes

No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this – ‘devoted and obedient’. This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.

How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.

For the sick, it is important to have the best.

The amount of relief and comfort experienced by the sick after the skin has been carefully washed and dried, is one of the commonest observations made at a sick bed.

I attribute my success to this – I never gave or took any excuse.

Live life when you have it. Life is a splendid gift-there is nothing small about it.

Were there none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach anything better.

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.