Florence Nightingale

07/19/10 ; 07/26/10

"  Any activity you are engaged in,  whereby something becomes better than what  it was earlier, or, someone is enabled to  feel, or know, better than before, is indeed  a good activity "    

(Spring Leaves   by    KMG

Lives of great people are a source of inspiration and guidance for one and all. It is rare that one is born great.  One becomes great in the course of one's life, thru a strong, courageous  and  heroic Will,  with steadfastness, determination and fortitude, facing problems, overcoming handicaps, meeting challenges, unyielding to circumstances, and, unceasingly striving till the goal that one  has set for oneself, is achieved.  Such people ' leave footprints on the sands of time ', ever living in the memory of generations to come. One such legendary person was  Florence Nightingale, the great pioneer in the service-oriented professsion of  Nursing.  A very embodiment of  compassion for fellow beings, especially the sick and the wounded.  Doctors no doubt diagnose and treat the sick. Surgeons operate their patients as needed, taking a few hours.  But it is the  Nurse that continuously and relentlessly  serves and looks after, and caters to the needs of those ailing.  Let us know something about the valiant life of  Florence Nightingale, who indeed ceaselessly working, even at the cost of her own health, brought glory to the noble profession of Nursing :       

" Florence Nightingale gathered her well-to-do family, and broke the news. She was determined not to follow in her mother's footsteps and become an English socialite. Instead, she would become a  Nurse.  When the word sank in, her parents flew into a rage, and her sister into hysterics.  But the twenty-five year old Florence would not let the display and manipulations affect her. She had been preparing for this moment more than half her life.  From age six, the "wild swan" as her mother called Florence, dreamed of being a heroine.  She was bored by the trappings of her parent's lifestyle, " making society and arranging domestic things"  as she put it.  By age twelve, she was determined she would not waste her life at tea-parties,  but do  " something  worthwhile ".         Nightingale (1820 - 1910), whose first name came from the Italian city where she was born,  wrote about her dreams in her journal daily, vowing that she would make them come true.  It was a habit she would continue all her life.  Until she lost her sight, in her last years, her journal, she said, kept her on her path.  By sixteen, her dreams were so anchored, they had become a calling.  She had a rock-solid faith that her destiny was to serve God   by serving people.        

As a teenager, she fed her interest in Nursing, by finding as much information as she could.  For years, she secretly collected reference books on Nursing and Hospitals, using every spare moment  to educate herself.  She visited Hospitals in London and the country side, and even arranged a trip abroad to visit Kaiserworth, a German Hospital that was one of the leading facilities in Europe.  She moved into the Hospital for two weeks, and observed the daily routines and techniks of the doctors and nurses. Experiencing firsthand what it would be like to be a nurse, she became more confident that it was her Destiny. She returned to England  " feeling so brave as if nothing could vex me again."       

Her family used ploys to persuade her to change her mind.  Her sister faked fainting spells!  Her mother went as far as to accuse Florence of having no real interest in Nursing. The truth, her mother hollered, was that  Florence wanted to lead a promiscuous life. The words stung.  But rather than let herself be defeated by the negativety around her, she decided to finally  make her move.

Needing her father's permission to study at Kaiserworth, she cut a  deal with him.  She would not tell anyone of her plans, and would return to  England after her training.  All the years of yearning paid off. She became  an exemplary student.  " No one had ever passed so distinguished an  examination, or shown herself so thoroughly the mistress of all she had  learned, as Miss Nightingale ", a hospital official wrote in a recommendation  letter.  That letter got her a job running a hospital in London. Finally doing   what she had set her heart on, she happily worked countless hours for about  an year. In March 1854, England went to war with Russia, and Nightingale    got permission to help care for English soldiers who were fighting in Crimea,  on the shores of the Black Sea. Working round the clock, she helped save  the lives of thousands. A visitor said of her " She was the ministering Angel,  without any exaggeration, in these hospitals."         

Dedicated to her work as she was, she did more than bandage the sick  and tend to the dying. She studied problems that stumped others. Her  commitment led her to keep looking for answers until she found them.  For  example, no one could figure out why infection was spreading through the  field hospitals. Bacteria would not be discovered for another twenty years.  But she realized hygiene was critical to good health, by simply observing  that soldiers became sick in dirty conditions, and when they ate from the  same pot.  Acting on her  hunch, she had carpenters build more windows in  the field hospitals for fresh air. She washed sheets and clothes, and began  cooking individual meals.          

The death rate began dropping, and Nightingale had found the cause  she would champion all her life. In 1856 she returned to a hero's welcome  in England. Most people were unaware that she had ruined her health during  the two-year war. She was confined to her bed. Still, she did not stop working.  Writing letters to Britain's War Dept, she pursuaded Army officials to clean up  their hospital wards, and cook healthful meals to combat deadly infections.  In fact, word of her success in Crimea, led Washington to issue similar orders  during the Civil war.           

She would be confined to her bed for fifty-four years. Throughout that  time, she waged her campaign to clean up hospitals around the world. She  wrote to one administrator after another. She founded the Nightingale School  in London, to train Nurses and Midwives. "                                       

( Source:  Laura Diggs  Joyner )

Well, that is a peep into the dedicated life of Florence Nightingale, an inspiration to all those who are service-oriented.