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Maia Kaul

Florence Nightingale, and How She Improved the Workplace for Women

In history class, we’re currently exploring the interesting topic of Florence Nightingale and how she shaped nursing. I found interest in the topic, so I wanted to take one step further into how she not only changed nursing, but how she changed the workplace for women.


Upsettingly, it's understood that women weren’t treated fairly in the 19th century. Women coming from a lower class were expected to work in factories, and women coming from a higher class were expected to be housewives. Florence came from a higher class, so it was expected for her to cook, clean, and take care of future children. Florence lived in England, and so her parents took her and her sister on a trip through Europe. She was taking note of the population and the number of hospitals in each country, and it was then when she realised she wanted to be a nurse. Of course, because of the societal expectations of women during these times, her parents didn’t approve. Her father believed that women should get an education, but he thought working was only for the lower class and Florence came from a very wealthy family.


Florence was resilient and determined to achieve her dreams, so she rejected many marriage proposals and took an opportunity to go to Germany to study medicine, and then to Paris to a hospital run by nuns. She wanted practical training in nursing, even though at the time, nurses were more like assistants to doctors rather than practitioners in their own right. She followed her heart and took every opportunity she possibly could to become who she wanted to be, showing much courage.


When the Crimean War began in 1853, Florence was sent to Crimea to treat British soldiers in a military hospital—becoming the first woman to ever be employed in one.


Florence immediately took notice of the horrible conditions in the hospital. It was mouldy, there were rats, and no proper medical supplies. Because she believed in miasma (the belief that disease comes from bad air), she took action to improve the conditions in the hospital. She insisted on cleaning everything, and keeping the windows open to get fresh air. Even though the miasma theory was proved wrong later on, the safety measures she took proved to be extremely effective as they kept the place clean, helping with germs. Because of this, the death rate was reduced from 42% to 2%.


Unsurprisingly, because Florence was a woman and she hadn’t been at the hospital for that long, people started complaining about the amount of authority she had. Despite this, the patients loved her. They started calling her ‘The lady with the lamp’, because she would come and visit everybody after hours when it had become dark, and she would make sure that everyone was okay. No nurses ever did this, so the patients were very thankful for her - they would actually kiss her shadow as it fell on their pillow when she walked by.


Florence was an incredibly modest, kind, and influential woman. Photos of her with her lamp appeared in various British newspapers, so when she returned to England, she was treated like a hero. She didn’t want all the attention, so she would actually go out with a fake name in order to avoid it. She even put all the money that she received from Queen Victoria for her service into building a hospital and a nursing school. She had poems and songs written for her and many women, no matter their social status, wanted to be like her. The school that was opened for nurses in 1860 still exists as a part of King's College, London, and is named after her. Nursing became extremely popular and it wasn’t frowned upon. Hospitals were kept clean from then on, too, all because of Florence.


Unfortunately, she contracted ‘Crimean fever’, and had to remain in bed from age 38 till her passing. This didn’t stop her from doing good for the community, though. Florence wrote many books on nursing for lower income people to read, if they couldn’t afford medical school. She then became the first ever woman to receive the Order of Merit of the United Kingdom at age 87.


Florence did what was thought impossible - she followed her dream of becoming a female nurse, and she didn’t let anyone stop her. This was obviously recognised by many as an incredible achievement, so now, May 12th is international nurses day to celebrate and appreciate all of the women who have helped thousands of people. Because of her grit and determination, she was able to reach the life she wanted and she got recognised for all her incredible work. This in turn proved that women were just as capable as men when it comes to work, which helped out a lot with other women - especially ones interested in medicine.


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