Florence Nightingale

Posted October 4, 2007, 11:48 pm by Growing Bolder


Florence Nightingale
Born: May 12, 1820 Died: Aug. 13, 1910

Born to wealthy English parents, Nightingale said she heard a calling from God at an early age and devoted her life to making nursing a noble profession.

Recognized as the founder of modern nursing and one of the most famous women in history, she founded the groundbreaking Nightingale Training School for Nurses.

She opened the Womens Medical College along with Elizabeth Blackwell and published dozens of books and pamphlets on nursing and sanitation methods.

After the Age of 60
In 1883, at age 63, Queen Victoria awarded Nightingale with the Royal Red Cross.

At age 87, she became the first woman awarded the Order of Merit.

One year later, the 88-year-old was given the Honorary Freedom of the City of London.

In addition to her pioneering nursing work, she was an accomplished mathematician statistician and the first female member of the Royal Statistical Society.

Until her death at the age of 90, she continued to push for reform of the British military health-care system and to give the nursing profession the respect it deserved.



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