Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale was a famous nurse. She was born in 1820 and she died when she was 90 in 1910. She was named after the city, Florence, in Italy where she was born.

She had a sister called Parthenope (‘pop’ for short). She lived with her rich family and was taught at home by her father.

When she was a young woman, she felt God had called her to help and look after others. Florence wanted to be a nurse but her parents would not let her. She disobeyed her parents and started to train to be a nurse.

In 1853, the Crimean War started. In Britain, there were newspaper reports on the terrible conditions of the wounded soldiers and how they were suffering. Florence Nightingale was asked to go to the Crimea to help to look after the wounded soldiers. She was based at the Barrack Hospital at Scutari where there were thousands of sick and wounded men.

There were not enough beds for all of the men so some of them were on the floor. The hospital was dirty and smelly and there were rats running around everywhere spreading diseases making the men worse. The men were dying from the diseases from the rats in the hospital.

When she first arrived, she was not allowed to nurse the men as they carried deadly diseases. She was only allowed to clean the hospital until more wounded men arrived when the doctors had to ask the nurses for help. The nurses had to follow strict rules and wear a uniform.

The hospital was now cleaner and healthier for the wounded soldiers. The soldiers thought that Florence Nightingale was a brilliant person. When she returned to Britain, she became a hero. She had had songs written about her because of her good work and she was given many awards, one of which was given to her by Queen Victoria.

Florence did not want to be famous. She wrote many letters to hospitals asking them to change so that they were cleaner for the sick and wounded. She set up a training school for nurses at St. Thomas’ Hospital where there is now a museum.