por Who was Florence Nightingale?
florence nightingale (1820-1910) was a British writer, statistician, and nurse, considered the forerunner of modern nursing. She was in charge of caring for British soldiers during the Crimean War. The nurse herself dedicated several hours attending to the soldiers in a special and personalized way during the nights in the hospital. For having worked for so long in the dark, she became known as «the lady with the lamp.»
Her efforts to formalize her nursing education led her to establish the first science-based nursing school at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, and was the world’s first secular nursing school.
He also developed a theory based on the ideal medical environment, as well as the proper care that nurses should have with their patients. Such proposals are practiced in current medicine.
She was a member of the Royal Statistical Society, being the first woman to access that society. She inspired Henri Dunant to found the Red Cross.
Florence Nightingale Biography
Birth and early years
He was born on May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy, into a wealthy British family. His parents were William Edward Nightingale and Frances Nightingale Smith. She had a sister who was a writer and journalist.
In 1821 the Nightingale family moved to London, where both sisters were educated. Her father was interested in her two daughters having the best education: they learned history, philosophy, literature, mathematics and languages.
Florence was a precocious and intellectual child. She never participated in traditional female activities. On the contrary, she preferred to read the great philosophers and spend her spare time studying. She soon showed interest towards religion.
As time passed, she became increasingly motivated by the reduction of human suffering, in the service of humanity and of God.
Studies and early career
In 1837, he had his first experience of serving his neighbor. He viewed these actions as «calls from God,» and his religious beliefs played a pivotal role in his professional life, particularly in the motivational realm of his medical practice.
In 1850, she managed to enroll in the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses in Kaiserswerth, Germany. There she learned basic nursing skills, the importance of patient observation and good hospital organization.
She then moved back to London, where she obtained a job as a nurse in a hospital on Harley Street to care for the sick in the town. Her performance in her place impressed her employers, who promoted her to the position of site superintendent.
She also volunteered at a Middlesex hospital for a time, dealing with a cholera outbreak and unsanitary conditions that led to the spread of the disease. This inspired Nightingale to improve the hygiene of medical institutions.
Suitors and friends
She had a few suitors who courted her, but she never married. The most persistent was the politician Richard Monckton Milnes. After having courted her for 9 years, she Florence rejected him because she did not consider herself as a traditional woman. She said that the marriage would imply a neglect in her work as a nurse.
Later, he met the British statesman Sidney Herbert, who had served as England’s Secretary of War. He and Nightingale became great friends.
Herbert even went so far as to facilitate Nightingale’s nursing work in many places, and she became Herbert’s direct adviser during his political campaigns.
Nightingale’s involvement in the Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict that began in 1853 between the Russian Empire and the alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, Great Britain, and Sardinia.
The cause was the struggle between the restoration of the Catholic Church by the alliance against the imposition of the Orthodox Church by the Russians.
The conflict took place on the Crimean peninsula, in the Black Sea. Although the allies started the conflict on the right foot, a large number of diseases spread and the armies did not have enough medicines, doctors or nurses to combat them.
Herbert, being Secretary of War, called Nightingale to collaborate in the conflict. The woman left for the Crimea with a group of nurses, many volunteers and inexperienced in the area of health.
When Nightingale’s team arrived on the scene, a very complicated picture was presented: wounded soldiers were receiving inadequate treatment, significantly worsening their already poor health.
In addition, there were few medical provisions and supplies. Hygiene was inadequate, which resulted in serious infections and putrefactions on the skin of the combatants.
In fact, many soldiers died from illnesses not related to the war, in addition to medical negligence.
The lady with the lamp
As the conflict unfolded, a newspaper article The Times made a publication in which he described in detail the work of Nightingale. Since that publication, Nightingale has come to be recognized in England as «the Lady with the Lamp».
When the doctors withdrew and the patients were left alone in the hospital in the dark, Nightingale walked the corridors with his lamp, observing each of the patients in the place.
The nursing care stood out for being personalized, providing very good care to each patient.
Activities and last years
After the war, Nightingale established a training school for nurses at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London, and carried out a number of works that laid the foundation for further research in the field of health worldwide.
As the years passed, Nightingale began to suffer from severe depression, supposedly associated with brucellosis and spondylitis. These illnesses caused her to spend a lot of time in bed. Furthermore, her mental capacity was deteriorating significantly.
On August 13, 1910, at the age of 90, he died in his sleep. She was buried at St. Margaret’s Church in East Wellow, England.
Florence Nightingale Theory
When Florence Nightingale returned from the war, she began a series of projects and plays based on her experiences as a nurse and her service during wartime.
In 1859, he wrote nursing notes. He used this publication to publicize his theories about what he considered to be correct in the field of nursing. In fact, the book is considered a perfect introduction to classical nursing.
Although the book was written primarily for its nursing students, it has been studied and researched by many nursing schools around the world.
environmental theory
In nursing notes reflected his environmental theory in health. According to Nightingale, the environment is essential for the recovery of the patient and the correct development of biological and physiological processes.
He considered that there are a series of external factors that affect the improvement of patients and that nurses should commit themselves unconditionally to them.
The factors are the purity of the air, the purity of the water and natural and direct light. The patient must breathe in an aseptic environment, with a pleasant temperature for the body (without excessive cold or heat).
Likewise, the water must be clean, and boil it to clean it, in case it comes from a well (he thought that well water should be excluded from medical practices).
Finally, natural and direct light is essential for the recovery of the patients, as well as the cleanliness of the place.
Warm environment and documentation
During the time that Nightingale worked, conditions in hospitals were not good. The doctors had a very poor level and hygiene was disastrous.
Often, many patients were treated by inexperienced doctors, further complicating their health conditions.
Within Nightingale’s environmental theory, the provision of a quiet, warm and noise-free environment stands out. The nurse had to make an evaluation of the sick patient and attend to her needs according to the results obtained from said evaluation.
In addition, he saw the need to document the previous evaluation, the time of intake of the patient’s food and the evaluation of the medical effects to study the progress of his health.
Contributions to nursing and health
Sanitary reform
In addition to his great contribution in the Crimean War, he managed to make a social reform in medical care and nursing practices. He even met with Queen Victoria to discuss the need to reform the British military establishment.
Nightingale meticulously observed the operation of many hospitals. He concluded that many patient deaths and the spread of disease were due to the inefficiency of hospital staff.
Beyond the lack of professional expertise in hospitals, many nurses and doctors did not have the clinical resources to treat all patients. Hence, Nightingale established a commission, along with royalty, to provide statistical support for the conclusions of his studies.
polar area diagram
Nightingale pioneered the visual representation of statistical graphs to more easily capture the quantitative data of their investigations.
He perfected the method of the circular graph created in 1801, with an innovative touch to more accurately represent the data.
This modification is now called the polar area diagram, although at the time it was known as the Nightingale rose diagram.
The diagram is equivalent to a modern circular histogram that served to illustrate mortality statistics for patients in hospitals.
Such a feat led her to become the first woman to belong to the Royal Statistical Society, in 1859.
women’s movement
Although she was known for her contributions to the field of nursing, statistics and mathematics, she also promoted feminism in England.
Florence Nightingale wrote more than 200 articles, pamphlets and books throughout her life making references to the social role that women played.
Theology
Nightingale expressed his religious point of view through articles and texts. He practiced the Anglican faith.
Throughout her life, Nightingale felt that religion should manifest itself in care, service, and love for others. He wrote a theological text titled Thought Suggestionswhich embodies his heterodox ideas of religion.
References
Florence Nightingale. Taken from britannica.com
Nightingale’s environmental theory. Taken from wikipedia.org
Florence Nightingale Biography. Taken from biography.com