Who was Florence Nightingale?
Florence Nightingale was a British nurse and social reformer who became famous for caring for wounded soldiers during the Crimean War in the 1850s. She is considered the founder of modern nursing.
Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy, in 1820 to a wealthy British family and was named after the city. She chose nursing despite her family's objections.
In 1854, she led a team of nurses to a British military hospital in Scutari, now part of Istanbul, during the Crimean War. She found terrible conditions and worked to improve sanitation and care.
The Lady with the Lamp
She became known as the Lady with the Lamp because she made rounds at night, checking on wounded soldiers.
Nightingale was also a pioneer in statistics. She used diagrams to show that more soldiers died from disease than from wounds.
In 1860, she founded the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St Thomas' Hospital in London. Her work led to reforms in hospital design and public health.
She died in 1910. International Nurses Day is celebrated on her birthday, 12 May. The Florence Nightingale Museum is in London.