On 13 August the Church remembers Florence Nightingale, nurse, social reformer and known as ‘The Lady of the Lamp’. 

But who was Florence Nightingale?

Born at Florence while her parents were travelling in Italy in 1820, Florence Nightingale was named after the city of her birth. She was raised mostly at Lea Hurst in Derbyshire. Brought up in the Unitarian Church, she later joined the Church of England but her personal beliefs were far from orthodox and prone to change. Nevertheless she experienced God’s personal presence and sought to follow his promptings. Feeling called by God to some form of service at the age of 16, she decided that she must remain single and soon afterwards rejected a proposal of marriage.

In 1844, she came to believe that her calling was to nurse the sick and in 1849 she went to study hospitals in Europe. On 12 May 1850 she recorded in her diary:

Today I am thirty – the age Christ began his mission. Now no more childish things. No more love. No more marriage. Now Lord let me think only of Thy Will, what Thou willest me to do.

Later that year she began nursing training at Alexandria in Egypt and subsequently studied at the Lutheran Deaconess Institute at Kaiserswerth in Germany. In1853 she became superintendent of the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen in London.

After the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, Florence used personal contacts in high places to allow her to take 38 nurses to serve at the military hospital at Scutari (Üsküdar) in Turkey and later at Balaklava in the Crimea. Through her tireless efforts to improve both nursing care and simple sanitation, the mortality rate among the sick and wounded was greatly reduced. At night, she would often patrol the wards, carrying a dim lamp, to check that all was well. The legend of ‘the Lady with the Lamp’ was born.

Although primarily remembered for her accomplishments during the Crimean War, Nightingale’s greatest achievements centred on attempts to create social reform in health care and nursing. In 1855, as a token of gratitude and respect for Nightingale, the Nightingale Fund was established. Through private donations, £45,000 was raised by 1859 and put at Nightingale’s disposal.

She used a substantial part of these monies to institute the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, which opened in 1860. The school formalized secular nursing education, making nursing a viable and respectable option for women who desired employment outside of the home. The model was taken worldwide by matrons (women supervisors of public health institutions). Nightingale’s statistical models—such as the Coxcomb chart, which she developed to assess mortality—and her basic concepts regarding nursing remain applicable today. For these reasons she is considered the foundational philosopher of modern nursing.

In September 1856 she met with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to discuss the need for reform of the British military establishment. Nightingale kept meticulous records regarding the running of the Barrack Hospital, causes of illness and death, the efficiency of the nursing and medical staffs, and difficulties in purveyance. A Royal Commission was established, which based its findings on the statistical data and analysis provided by Nightingale. The result was marked reform in the military medical and purveyance systems.

But under the strain of ceaseless overwork, her own health broke, and she was an invalid for the last part of her life. She received many honours and in 1907 she became the first woman to receive the Order of Merit. She died in London on 13 August 1910, aged 90, and was buried at St Margaret’s, East Wellow in Hampshire. Her tombstone bears the simple inscription, ‘F. N. 1820–1910’.

Florence Nightingale’s Oath for Nurses

I solemnly swear before God and in the presence of this assembly to lead a worthy life and to exercise my profession honourably.

I shall abstain from anything that is harmful or injurious, and I shall not take or give any substance or product that is harmful to health.

I will do everything in my power to raise the standard of nursing and will treat as confidential all information disclosed to me in the exercise of my profession, as well as all family matters in my patients.

I will be a faithful assistant to the doctors and dedicate my life to the welfare of the people entrusted to my care.

Revd Paul A. Carr & Extract from Saints on Earth: A biographical companion to Common Worship by John H Darch and Stuart K Burns

Prayers for the 75th Anniversary of the NHS