Background on Florence Nightingale

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Background Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, named after her birthplace, Florence, Italy. Florence’s mother Frances Nightingale was from a family of merchants and enjoyed socializing with people of prominent social standing. Florence was the exact opposite; she avoided anything where she was the center of attention. Florence’s father William Shore Nightingale was a wealthy landowner. Her father was able to provide Florence with the best education. Florence Nightingale was always trying to help anyone around her, even from a young age. She ministered to the ill and poor people. At 16, she decided to pursue the career of nursing, trying to help as many people as possible. Her parents were upset and forbid her from becoming a nurse. A woman of Florence’s background was expected to marry and provide for her family. A wife working was something only the lower class would do. Florence refused a marriage proposal form a gentleman stating that her “moral…active nature…requires satisfaction, and that would not find it in this life.” In 1844, Florence enrolled as a nursing student at the Lutheran hospital of Pastor Fliedner in Germany against her parents’ wishes. Florence returned to London, in the early 1850s, where she took a nursing job in a Middlesex hospital. Due to her hard work, within a year Florence was promoted to supervisor. Her main mission at that hospital was to fight cholera and to improve the hygiene practices. The hospitals unsanitary conditions caused diseases to spread rampant and killed a great number of people. Under Florence reign, the death toll dropped significantly. The Crimean War broke out in October 1853. At that time, there were no female nurses stationed in Crimea, due to the poor reputation of female nurses. The hospitals were understaffed and completely unsanitary. More soldiers died from diseases caught at the
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