If you or a loved one have ever received care from a nurse, thank Florence Nightingale, pioneer in nursing and healthcare. Although her service to the world is over, the work and efforts of Nightingale are still felt today. Named the founder of modern nursing, Nightingale laid the foundation of professional nursing with the opening of her nursing school in London, the first of its kind in the world. She was an advocate for improvements in healthcare for all British citizens and fought for better hunger relief in India.
Florence was born in 1820 into an upper-class British family in Florence, Italy. Despite opposition from her family and the strict expectations for affluent young English women, Nightingale educated herself in the art and science of nursing. She was known to be a very attractive woman, but her focus on nursing was strong and she was convinced that marriage would interfere with her ability to follow her calling by God.
“If I could give you information of my life it would be to show how a woman of very ordinary ability has been led by God in strange and unaccustomed paths to do in His service what He has done in her. And if I could tell you all, you would see how God has done all, and I nothing. I have worked hard, very hard, that is all; and I have never refused God anything.” ― Florence Nightingale
Known as “The Lady with the Lamp, Nightingale sought out wounded soldiers using a lamp to navigate her way around the battlefield at night. She was indeed a light to those soldiers in war and transformed the foundation of healing the sick in ways that have benefitted millions. We honor Florence Nightingale as a woman who dared to defy the status quo! What will you contribute to the world?
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