Assess Florence Nightingale’s Contributions to Nursing and Medicine
Florence Nightingale brought a number of momentous contributions to the profession of nursing and medicine. Nightingale initiated the use of statistical evidence, which was vital in discovering the reasons for high death rates and making educated decisions in order to improve hospital maintenance. She made a huge effort in developing healthcare environments by focusing on hygiene- decreasing the spread of disease and reducing the mortality rate. Nightingale also utilised the nursing practice of making patients the centre of all thoughts, which is now necessary for providing them with the best healthcare that will meet their individual expectations. Likewise, Nightingale’s …show more content…
Due to witnessing the horrid conditions experienced by soldiers during the Crimean War, including the infestation of pests, unclean linen and lack of medical supplies, Nightingale made hygiene within hospitals a priority (Fee and Garofalo, 2010). The Journal of Advanced Nursing claims that, “Despite widespread improvements in treatment and health care, key aspects of nursing care first identified by Nightingale remain.”; Nightingale outlined essential aspects that would contribute to optimal healing, such as pure air, pure water, effective drainage and cleanliness (Lee et al., 2013, p245). Nightingale also recognised how environmental aspects like colour, noise and light, would significantly lead to more preferable health outcomes (Zborowsky, 2014). Using this knowledge, she gave directions to a Sanitary Commission in Turkey, which flushed sewers, removed rancid animal remains and refined ventilation, almost immediately decreasing the mortality rate of soldiers in the Crimean War from 52% to 20% by March 1855 (Rehmeyer, 2008). The mortality rate dropped even further to 2.2% after Nightingale established a fresh water supply and used her own funds to provide fruit, vegetables and necessary hospital equipment (O’Connor and Robertson, …show more content…
After returning to England from the Crimean War, Nightingale spent the remainder of her life writing books, reports and pamphlets, providing valuable information related to her healthcare methods and ideas. All of these writings had a “profound effect on army health, welfare in India, civil hospitals, medical statistics and nursing” (Attewell, 1998, p153). On top of this, she also opened the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in 1860, and by 1887, it was found that the school had established 42 hospitals and 520 nurses had completed their training (Attewell, 1998). The nurses who were especially well-trained began to migrate to various countries such as Australia, Canada, India and Finland, and form their own nursing schools, further increasing the spread of advanced nursing methods. Nightingale also enabled the participation of members within the nursing field to grow through “lifting the reputation of nursing from lowly and menial to a respectable profession to which many upper-class women aspired” (Ngigi, 2016). The profession of nursing had initially been considered a job that was unimportant and of low-status as nurses during that time were untrained. This view was completely altered, however, due to Nightingale’s accomplishments throughout the Crimean
Florence Nightingale brought a number of momentous contributions to the profession of nursing and medicine. Nightingale initiated the use of statistical evidence, which was vital in discovering the reasons for high death rates and making educated decisions in order to improve hospital maintenance. She made a huge effort in developing healthcare environments by focusing on hygiene- decreasing the spread of disease and reducing the mortality rate. Nightingale also utilised the nursing practice of making patients the centre of all thoughts, which is now necessary for providing them with the best healthcare that will meet their individual expectations. Likewise, Nightingale’s …show more content…
Due to witnessing the horrid conditions experienced by soldiers during the Crimean War, including the infestation of pests, unclean linen and lack of medical supplies, Nightingale made hygiene within hospitals a priority (Fee and Garofalo, 2010). The Journal of Advanced Nursing claims that, “Despite widespread improvements in treatment and health care, key aspects of nursing care first identified by Nightingale remain.”; Nightingale outlined essential aspects that would contribute to optimal healing, such as pure air, pure water, effective drainage and cleanliness (Lee et al., 2013, p245). Nightingale also recognised how environmental aspects like colour, noise and light, would significantly lead to more preferable health outcomes (Zborowsky, 2014). Using this knowledge, she gave directions to a Sanitary Commission in Turkey, which flushed sewers, removed rancid animal remains and refined ventilation, almost immediately decreasing the mortality rate of soldiers in the Crimean War from 52% to 20% by March 1855 (Rehmeyer, 2008). The mortality rate dropped even further to 2.2% after Nightingale established a fresh water supply and used her own funds to provide fruit, vegetables and necessary hospital equipment (O’Connor and Robertson, …show more content…
After returning to England from the Crimean War, Nightingale spent the remainder of her life writing books, reports and pamphlets, providing valuable information related to her healthcare methods and ideas. All of these writings had a “profound effect on army health, welfare in India, civil hospitals, medical statistics and nursing” (Attewell, 1998, p153). On top of this, she also opened the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in 1860, and by 1887, it was found that the school had established 42 hospitals and 520 nurses had completed their training (Attewell, 1998). The nurses who were especially well-trained began to migrate to various countries such as Australia, Canada, India and Finland, and form their own nursing schools, further increasing the spread of advanced nursing methods. Nightingale also enabled the participation of members within the nursing field to grow through “lifting the reputation of nursing from lowly and menial to a respectable profession to which many upper-class women aspired” (Ngigi, 2016). The profession of nursing had initially been considered a job that was unimportant and of low-status as nurses during that time were untrained. This view was completely altered, however, due to Nightingale’s accomplishments throughout the Crimean