Lessons from the Life of Florence Nightingale

When the Crimean war broke out in 1854, it can easily be imagined that there was no woman in England so well fitted to take charge of the chaotic situation which soon developed in regard to the care of the wounded. The employment of women nurses in the army was an entire innovation. It excited jealousy in medical men, and strong criticism from military officers. In spite of the fact that the idea was certain to be branded as unwomanly by her own sex, and by the world in general, she offered her services, and her letter crossed in the mails a formal offer from Sir Sidney Herbert of the War Department of the position of director of a party of women nurses who were to be sent to nurse the sick. From France, a devoted company of Sisters of Charity had gone, who were rendering excellent service to the wounded, and it was felt by some officials who were not bound hand and foot by routine and precedent, that a company of women nurses from England might be sent to assist in the emergency that had arisen. Her services at this time are well known. The main facts were tersely summed up in the following paragraphs, published at the time of her death:

"The death rate at Scutari was 42 per cent. In one hospital it rose to 56. Eighty per cent of those whose limbs were amputated died of gangrene. The sick list amounted to over 13,000. In the Turkish barracks on the Bosphorus there were two miles of sick beds, in a double file along the corridors. The rats ran over the wounds of the helpless patients.