Running head: CONTRIBUTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH – FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE Contribution to Public Health – Florence Nightingale Chellbee I. McKnight HCA 415 Nina Bell 03/04/19 CONTRIBUTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH – FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 1 Contribution to Public Health – Florence Nightingale The British soldiers would have been significantly disadvantaged if not for the presence of Florence Nightingale, a female nurse that served during the Crimean War. Her significant contributions to Barrack hospital was the primary factor that made her noticeable. Barrack hospital was a medical refuse that was in the midst of the chaos that was as a result of the war. The Crimean War started in 1853 between the Turks and the Russians. British and France decided to end the military struggles between the two countries by supporting the Turks in pushing Russian out of Turkish boundaries. The British troops were immensely slaughtered after the Russian refused to leave Turkey. As such, Florence Nightingale was deployed by the British Secretary at War, Sidney Herbert, to the Barrack Hospital at Scutari-Turkey in an endeavor to ensure that the hospital care was improved (Judd, Sitxman & Davis, 2014). This event was a pivotal point in Florence`s life. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the biographical background of Florence, the climate of that period, which prompted her work, challenges faced, and the outcomes of her contributions. Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy. Nightingale was the younger of the two daughters and belonged to the wealthy British clan. Her mother`s name was Frances Nightingale. She came from a family of merchants and liked to socialize with people from prominent families. Florence was different from her mother in that she did not like socializing that much and always avoided being the center of attraction (Gill, 2005). She often quarreled with her mother because she thought that she was overly controlling. The father of Florence was known as William Edward Nightingale. He was a wealthy landowner with two CONTRIBUTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH – FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 2 estates under his name. Florence received classical education especially in mathematics studies as well as German, French, and Italian. Since her early years, Nightingale actively engaged in philanthropy by ministering to the ill and poor people in the neighboring villages. Nightingale later realized that being a nurse was a divine purpose and that is what she was called for. However, when she approached her parents informing them of her desire to pursue nursing, they tried to seek her to take up appropriate training. That is because during the Victorian Era, whereby no property rights were given to any English women, a lady of the social stature such as that of Florence was supposed to marry a well off man to make sure that her class stood and not to venture into a job that was often despised by the upper class. In 1849, Florence rejected the marriage proposal of Richard Moncton Milnes who had been for years trying to win her love. She argued that her nature required her to venture into something beyond domestic life (Bostridge, 2008). Nightingale joined the institution of Protestant Deaconesses in Kaiserswerth in Germany in the 1850s to pursue nursing without paying attention to her parents` objections. Nightingale returned to London in the 1850s and acquired a nursing job in a Harley Street Hospital for treating governesses. She was later promoted to superintendent since her performance impressed her employer. She had also done voluntary jobs at a Middlesex hospital whereby she dealt with the cholera outbreak as well as the unsanitary conditions that helped the spread of the disease. Nightingale was determined to make sure that the hygiene practices improved which consequently helped to lower the death rates at that hospital. The Crimean War that broke out in 1853 marked the starting point of her success and recognition in nursing. The war took place after the allied British and French forces went to war CONTRIBUTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH – FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 3 with the Russian Empire for controlling the Ottoman territory. A large number of the British soldiers were taken to the Black Sea whereby they experienced a decline in the supplies. By 1954, more than 18,000 soldiers had been admitted to the hospital (Swenson, 2005). During that time, there was not a female nurse in any of the hospitals in the Crimea. Following the Battle of Alma, there was an uproar from England as individuals complained that their injured soldiers were neglected because they lacked sufficient medical attention. That was attributed to the lack of enough staffs in the hospitals as well as unsanitary conditions. In late 1854, Nightingale received a letter by Sidney Herbert requesting her to organize several nurses so that they could offer treatment to the suffering soldiers at Crimea. Nightingale was given full responsibility for the operation and thus assembled dozens of soldiers from various sectors and traveled with them to Crimea a few days later. Even though they had been warned of the horrid conditions in the area, the conditions at the British Base was more than they had anticipated. That is because the hospital was located at the top of a vast cesspool which contaminated the water as well as the building itself. They were also frightened by rodents and bugs that were prevalent in the area. Additionally, the essential items such as bandages and soaps significantly reduced as the number of injured soldiers kept increasing. The water was also regularly rationed. Infectious diseases such as cholera and typhoid claimed the deaths of more soldiers compared to the deaths from injuries incurred in the battle. The mortality rate was quite high, approximately 60% and was attributed to the lack of basic hygienic necessities (Judd, Sitxman & Davis, 2014). Such issues considerably humiliated the nurses and also created mistrust between nurses and the patients. Nightingale came into action at that time when the change was essential for nursing to advocate for reformation and hence prevent the field of nursing from going downhill. CONTRIBUTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH – FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 4 Despite those challenges, Nightingale was set to work. She took extra steps in the hopes of curing the injured soldiers. That is because she endeavored to avail her medical expertise in obtaining the required supplies as well as nurses from her sources in Britain. She worked restlessly for long hours with the aim of raising the Barrack Hospital to an efficient facility that would be capable of successfully treating the wounds of the injured soldiers. She often experienced exhaustion since her love and desire in serving the sick compelled her to offer services to the patients with all her might. Her efforts bore fruits because they improved not only the Barrack Hospital but also the nursing profession as a whole. For instance, Nightingale was able to change the 60% mortality rate to a fraction over 1% by being helped by doctors and other nurses (Judd, Sitxman & Davis, 2014). Nightingale became a national hero because of her sacrifices for the Crimean War. Her consistent efforts not only physically revived the injured soldiers but also a practical revival that formed an essential component of today`s nursing occupation. In conclusion, Florence Nightingale brought a positive change in the history of nursing and hence should be emulated by future nurses. That is primarily because she didn`t give up even in harsh conditions whereby nursing may seem almost impossible. Nightingale treated and saved her patients at high survival rates despite having limited resources as well as faced with an unsanitary environment. Her ideology of valuing the life of each patient equally helped her in striving to help all her patients relentlessly. Such labor led to the creation of the foundation for which she stands on today in the nursing profession. REFERENCES Bostridge, M. (2008). Florence Nightingale: The Woman and Her Legend. London: Viking Gill, G. (2005). The extraordinary upbringing and curious life of Miss Florence Nightingale. Random House, New York. Judd, D., Sitxman, K., & Davis, G. M. (2014). A history of American nursing: Trends and eras. (2nd Ed.). Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Swenson, K. (2005). Medical Women and Victorian Fiction. University of Missouri Press. p. 15.
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