The last day of Nurses Week always falls on Florence Nightingale's birthday, May 12th.
Born to a wealth British family, Florence was expected to marry rich, entertain guests and partake in charming activities like playing the piano and embroidery. She, however, felt like she had more to offer and after nine years of discussion with her family, she trained as a nurse in Germany.
Nightingale was drafted by the Secretary of War during the Crimean War to take care of fallen soldiers. Turns out more soldiers were dying from infection than they were from battle wounds. Nightingale and the other volunteers soon cut infection by two thirds by cleaning the hospital and providing the wounded with healthy food (novel idea, right?). At night she would complete her rounds by lamp light and soon earned the nickname "The Lady with the Lamp."
After the war ended she became bed ridden, but that did not slow her down. She helped to fund the Nightingale School for the training of nurses, brought sanitation and public health nursing to India and published hundreds of pamphlets and reports related to the field of nursing.
Have a couple of minutes to spare? Head over to Bio.com where you can watch a mini biography on the woman who changed the face of nursing and public health forever.
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