Florence Nightingale Research Paper

Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy. She was the younger of the two children. She was born to Frances Nightingale and William Shore Nightingale. Her mother was from a merchant family, who loved socializing with people. Her father was a wealthy landowner who inherited two estates when Florence was 5 years old. Unlike Florence’s mother, she was socially awkward. She often butted heads with her mother and she thought she was controlling. She wanted to please her mother; “I think I am got something more good-natured and complying”. Her father provided her with traditional education that included German, French and Italian. At a very young age, Florence loved helping the poor and the ill in the village nearest her family’s …show more content…
He asked if she could organize a group of nurses to help the sick and hurt soldiers. She gathered 34 nurses and they sailed to Crimea. The conditions there were horrible. Nothing could have prepared them for what they saw. The hospital was located on top of a cesspool that contaminated their water. The soldiers were lying in there own feces and had rodents and bugs crawling over them. Their supplies and water were growing scarce. The soldiers were dying from diseases like cholera and typhoid than dying from injuries sustained in the battle. Florence immediately cleaned the hospital from the floors to the ceilings. She made herself available at all times of the day and was seen carrying a lamp in the evenings while making her rounds. The patients who saw her called her “the lady with the lamp” and “the angel of the Crimea”. With her help, she reduced the deaths in the hospital by two-thirds. She also created the “invalid’s kitchen” which made food for people with special dietary needs. Florence also established laundry for clean linens for the patients and a library and classroom so patients could learn and have entertainment. Florence returned home in 1856 after the Crimean War was resolved. She was met with a hero’s welcome, which she tried to avoid. The queen rewarded Florence with an engraved brooch that is known as the ‘Nightingale Jewel”, and giving her $250,000