FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
South Africa.
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was the great reformer of nursing and health care during the 19th century. She was born of British parents in Florence, Italy. Her father was a wealthy landowner and educated his two intelligent daughters, Parthe and Florence, by himself. Florence, however, was not drawn to a conventional social and domestic life but to relieving the suffering of the sick and needy.
GOD’S CALL
When she was 16 and her sister Parthe 18, they were presented at court and introduced into society. Florence was tall, slender and pretty and soon received two offers of marriage. But a year later, though she did not think of herself as being very religious, she had an encounter with God who called her into His “service”. She pondered what this might mean and at last asked a friend (Dr Howe): “Do you think it unsuitable and unbecoming for a young Englishwoman to devote herself to works of charity in hospitals and elsewhere as Catholic sisters do? Do you think it would be a dreadful thing?” He replied: “It ‘would be unusual in England... but act on your inspiration.” So she decided to become a nurse. Her sister was angry, and her parents were horrified. How could a gentlewoman do such a thing? For in the 19th century hospitals were smelly ancl dirty places, and most nurses were immoral drunks.
But Florence was not discouraged. She started studying health care reports. She went to Germany to train at the Institution of Lutheran Deaconesses in Kaiserswerth, (founded by the Reverend Theodor Fliedner during the Industrial Revolution). When she returned to England, she briefly ministered to “Sick Gentlewomen in Distressed Circumstances. “
CRIMEAN WAR
Then, in 1853, the three-year Crimean War broke out between Russia on the one hand, and Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia on the other. The latter alliance fought in support of the Ottomans whose territory (which included the Crimea) was increasingly swallowed up by Russia who aimed at making it a protectorate. It turned into an ugly war, which claimed 200.000 deaths. One eyewitness reported: ”As the year waned and winter began to close in upon us, the army suffered greatly, worn out by night work, by vigil in rain and storm, by hard labour, in the trenches, they found themselves suddenly reduced to short allowance.. . ” It had become a “war of notoriously incompetent international butchery. “
THE LADY WITH THE LAMP
At the time of the Crimean War, Sidney Herbert was the English Secretary of War. He was a friend of Florence and was painfully aware of the conditions. Nearly every soldier, once wounded, died. In his desire to improve matters, Herbert turned to Florence and appointed her Superintendent of Nursing for English hospitals in Turkey. He asked her to choose a group of nurses and take them to the Crimea. Florence engaged forty, including 10 Catholic Sisters. On arrival they found that the food was mouldy, the water scarce, the hospital filthy and overcrowded. There were no sheets, no operating tables, no medical supplies. But Sidney Herbert had given her plenary powers, and she ordered at once bandages, towels and soap. Clothes were washed and floors were scrubbed. Soon the hospital changed. The love of Christ replaced hopelessness. Every night, before retiring, she would go from bed to bed and see that her patients were comfortable. The wounded soldiers called her the “lady with the lamp,” and held her in awe. Under her care the death rate diminished by two thirds.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY
She encouraged her co-workers with Bible Words and much prayer, saying: “Go your way, straight to God‘s work, in simplicity and singleness of heart.” She did not take NO for an answer, neither with herself nor with her staff, and she overcame all obstacles with determination. In answer to the why and how of her motivation she answered: ” (I am) a woman of very ordinary ability (who) has been led by God in strange and unaccustomed paths to do in His service what He has done in her. 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.“
When she returned to England from the Crimea she was gaunt, sick and exhausted. But now she turned her attention to legislation. For instance, surviving soldiers would receive a pay cut, because they were no longer in danger of being killed. On many issues she pleaded with the Minister of War, who submitted her ideas to parliament to pass into law .
Queen Victoria invited and visited Florence and discussed military reforms . The Queen of Holland, the Crown Prince of Prussia and the President of the USA consulted her. The King of Portugal asked her to design a hospital. She established a nurses’ training school and even proposed reorganization of the War Office. She made nursing respectable and health care accessible to the poor. Drunken “hussies” were no longer tolerated.
Jean Henri Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross, was so impressed that he said: “Though I am known as the founder of the Red Cross, it is to an English woman that all the honour is due. What inspired me was the work of Florence Nightingale.” The Lady with the Lamp had become a shining light not only for England but for the whole world. – Soli Deo Gloria .
