Contents
Florence Nightingale
Helping establish modern professional nursing.
Crimean War · Public health
- Born
- 12 May 1820
- Birthplace
- Florence (now Italy)
- Died
- 13 August 1910
More people
Florence Nightingale
An English nurse and reformer who combined practical care, statistics and sustained campaigning to improve health systems.
Early life
English upbringing
Born during her parents’ travels and raised in England.
Home education
Her father provided an unusually broad education for a girl of her era.
Career
- 1851
Nursing training
Studied nursing at Kaiserswerth in Germany.
- 1854
Crimean War
Led a team of nurses to care for British soldiers.
- 1860
Training school
Established a nursing school at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
Contributions
Hospital reform
Used evidence about illness and deaths to press for better conditions.
Statistical diagrams
Presented mortality data visually to support sanitary reform.
Notes on Nursing
Published guidance on the conditions needed for good care.
Beyond work
Wider reform
Also wrote about health and sanitation in India.
Long campaign
Continued advising and corresponding despite chronic ill health.
Sources & photo credit
Biographical reference ↗Florence Nightingale Museum ↗Science Museum Group: Nightingale’s statistical campaign ↗Photo: Henry Hering (1814-1893). Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
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