Florence Nightingale Research Paper
Florence Nightingale
Kayla McDonald, RN
Western Kentucky University
Florence Nightingale
A Revolutionary Nurse Leader
Florence Nightingale was a revolutionary nurse leader in her time. She was an activist for the “sick poor” (Monteiro, 1985, p. 181) who had the forethought, organization, planning, skills, knowledge, and determination to accomplish great strides in public health and nurse training. She was not just an activist for a specific gender or race, but she was an advocate for the general health and well-being of humanity. Her work still inspires nursing today and has laid the foundation for many nurse theories still relevant for what is now more than a hundred years after her death.
History and Contributions …show more content…
It was her belief that nursing could not be accomplished by well-meaning, upper-class women who came to bring aid to the “sick poor” (Monteiro, 1985, p. 184). In her words, “there is no such thing as amateur nursing” and “nursing was an art requiring an organized, practical, and specific training” (Monteiro, 1985, p. 184). In 1860, Florence began a nurses’ training program at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. Her training program was the first of many of its kind in England and in the United States (Chitty & Black, 2011, p. 30). Florence would go on to pursue social reform in London and Liverpool where workhouses housed infirmaries that were rampant with infectious diseases. In 1864, there were 1,200 “sick poor” being housed together in a Liverpool workhouse infirmary (Monteiro, 1985, p. 181). Florence was asked by William Rathbone, a wealthy merchant, to devise public policy that would address the conditions these “sick poor” were living in. Her first recommendation to Rathbone was that he start a training school for nurses so that the problem in Liverpool could have long-term attention from properly trained nurses. Florence agreed to help and began with a questionnaire for all of the workhouses to assess the actual state that they were in. According to Florence, the questionnaire “revealed facts so shameful that they could not be ignored” (Monteiro, 1985, p. 182). …show more content…
She believed that teaching the poor to be clean and find assistance with sanitation would deter the many infectious diseases that were prevalent in her time. She taught others and she herself sought to teach them in their own environment, their homes. This would later be called Public Health Nursing. Not only did Florence Nightingale forge the way for nurse education but she also brought necessary focus to Public Health Nursing that is still impacting nurses and our communities today. In 1894 Florence is quoted as saying, “it is cheaper to promote health than to maintain people in sickness” (Monteiro, 1985, p. 185). Her words still ring true
Kayla McDonald, RN
Western Kentucky University
Florence Nightingale
A Revolutionary Nurse Leader
Florence Nightingale was a revolutionary nurse leader in her time. She was an activist for the “sick poor” (Monteiro, 1985, p. 181) who had the forethought, organization, planning, skills, knowledge, and determination to accomplish great strides in public health and nurse training. She was not just an activist for a specific gender or race, but she was an advocate for the general health and well-being of humanity. Her work still inspires nursing today and has laid the foundation for many nurse theories still relevant for what is now more than a hundred years after her death.
History and Contributions …show more content…
It was her belief that nursing could not be accomplished by well-meaning, upper-class women who came to bring aid to the “sick poor” (Monteiro, 1985, p. 184). In her words, “there is no such thing as amateur nursing” and “nursing was an art requiring an organized, practical, and specific training” (Monteiro, 1985, p. 184). In 1860, Florence began a nurses’ training program at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. Her training program was the first of many of its kind in England and in the United States (Chitty & Black, 2011, p. 30). Florence would go on to pursue social reform in London and Liverpool where workhouses housed infirmaries that were rampant with infectious diseases. In 1864, there were 1,200 “sick poor” being housed together in a Liverpool workhouse infirmary (Monteiro, 1985, p. 181). Florence was asked by William Rathbone, a wealthy merchant, to devise public policy that would address the conditions these “sick poor” were living in. Her first recommendation to Rathbone was that he start a training school for nurses so that the problem in Liverpool could have long-term attention from properly trained nurses. Florence agreed to help and began with a questionnaire for all of the workhouses to assess the actual state that they were in. According to Florence, the questionnaire “revealed facts so shameful that they could not be ignored” (Monteiro, 1985, p. 182). …show more content…
She believed that teaching the poor to be clean and find assistance with sanitation would deter the many infectious diseases that were prevalent in her time. She taught others and she herself sought to teach them in their own environment, their homes. This would later be called Public Health Nursing. Not only did Florence Nightingale forge the way for nurse education but she also brought necessary focus to Public Health Nursing that is still impacting nurses and our communities today. In 1894 Florence is quoted as saying, “it is cheaper to promote health than to maintain people in sickness” (Monteiro, 1985, p. 185). Her words still ring true